The Sulfur Juxtaposition
by WeBuiltThePyramids
Summary: Sequel to The Parental Ambition. Picks up four years after Savannah's birth, eight months into Penny's second pregnancy, and about a year into the life span of Gilda's new board. Now rated M for "non-explicit suggestive adult themes."
1. The C Word

**So here we go. A sequel to The Parental Ambition. If you were so very satisfied with the way the first one ended and don't want to chance the story continuing in a way that you don't like, then this is your final chance to run fast and run far. That said, no worries if you do stay and aren't picky, it's not like anyone is breaking up or anything!**

**So here you go – over a year since The Parental Ambition was introduced, and over seven months since it finished, here is The Sulfer Juxtaposition. Picks up four years later.**

**I did eighty three disclaimers on The Parental Ambition alone. I'm taking a break on that for this chapter.**

"Thank you very much for sharing your stuffed bears with us, Mamie," the preschool teacher, Mrs. Bennet, said cheerfully. "Now, who is next for show – and – tell?" A mass of hands shot up, and Mrs. Bennet smiled and called on the quiet blonde girl in the front row. "Yes, Savannah. What do you have for us?"

The girl stood, faced the class, and held out a picture. "This is my sister. My mommy and daddy made her and now she's growing inside my mommy and we're going to see her soon."

"My mommy made me a brother!" said a red – haired girl sitting off to the side.

"_So_ many little brothers and sisters in everyone's family!" the teacher said, looking at Savannah curiously. At the preschool, parents were required to tell the teachers if their kid was bringing anything for show – and – tell that wasn't a stuffed animal or some other innocent object. An ultrasound shot was definitely something that she should have had a heads up about. Kids started asking questions, especially at four years old.

"My mommy made me a little brother too!" said Jeremy from the back, letting go of the corners of his blue carpet square.

"Your mommy _and_ daddy," Savannah said.

"What?" asked Jeremy.

"To have a baby, mommy and daddy must do coitus."

"_O_-kay," Mrs. Bennet said, jumping up. "I think that's…"

"What's coitus?" asked the red – haired girl.

"I don't know," Savannah said. "But they have to do it. My uncle Sheldon told me that my mommy and daddy so it so much that he's surprised I haven't had a little sister until now…what?" she asked, frowning and tensing up as Mrs. Bennet put a hand on her back.

"Show – and – tell is over for today," said the frazzled teacher in a loud voice, clapping her hands. "I will get Miss Blake in the room to keep an eye on you guys. Savannah and I have to take a little walk."

"Johnny talked about his baby sister's birthday party!" Savannah whined.

"That's a little different, missy," Mrs. Bennet said, taking the girl's hand. "Let's go see if we can't find your mommy."

* * *

"Raj, I am telling you, if you do not make her stay in your apartment, she's going to find herself on the street someday."

Raj took the dog back from the blonde and cuddled it. "I'm sorry," he said, "but she never escaped like this at my old apartment."

"She's lived here for two years, and I can't go a week without opening the door to her barreling inside like she owns the place," Penny said. "Look, when the baby comes, we can't have dogs just bursting in on us. You'd think that living with Scruffy would have bored your dog into obedience."

"Scruffy hasn't been around in several weeks," Raj said. "Until they get back, pup is without influence."

"Well, if she gets in and antagonizes the baby," Penny said, "she'll get some good 'influence' from me."

"It's not like she's going to make a beeline for the crib and…I'm sorry," Raj said upon seeing the stern look on Penny's face. "But she always escapes when Sheldon does his throat singing, can you really blame her? And how am I supposed to prevent her from getting out? I'm not home all the time."

"For starters," Penny said, folding her arms over her stomach, "you can take the doggie door out. If the building manager finds out you did that, he'll kill you."

"No he won't," Raj said. "It's been fifteen years and he still doesn't know the elevator is broken. I'm surprised he knows that you guys live in 5B and I'm in your old place. Though the rent from this place suddenly coming in on time might have tipped him off."

"Yeah, well…" Penny's phone rang as she struggled for a comeback. "I'll just hold that thought." Looking at the display on her phone, she frowned.

"Who is it?"

"The preschool." Penny hit 'accept' and put the phone to her ear. "Hello? Yes, this is her…she did what?" Penny closed her eyes. "Yes, I'll be right there…no, no, I'm fine, I can come. No, it's…no, we're together, you don't need to bother him at work…okay, yes, I'll be there as soon as I can. Okay, thank you." She hung up and let out a heavy sigh.

"Is your back hurting?" Raj asked sympathetically.

"I'm eight months pregnant, Raj, of course my back is hurting," Penny said. "But that's not my main concern right now."

"Is everything okay?"

"Well," Penny said, "apparently Savannah's been picking up a few choice words from her Uncle Shelly."

* * *

"I just wanted to tell everyone about my little brother or sister," Savannah said, looking dejected as Penny dragged her by the hand to the car.

"That's fine," Penny said. "And Daddy and I are very glad you're excited, but you don't have to say that word."

"What word?"

"The C – word," Penny said, opening the car door. "Get in, baby."

Savannah crawled in and wiggled into the car seat. Penny fastened the straps as the four – year – old tried to get a look at her mother's stomach. "When do I get to hold the baby?"

"One month," Penny said, kissing the girl on the forehead before shutting the car door and moving around to the other side.

"How long is a month?" Savannah asked.

"Do you remember when you asked Aunt Gilda about how long it was until Christmas and she said 'a month'?"

"Yeah."

"Well, the time it took from that day until Christmas."

"How long was that?"

"A month."

Savannah looked out the window at her class running out onto the playground. "Mommy, why am I going home when everyone else is playing? I was going to be line leader. Ms. Ringer said so."

"You can be line leader tomorrow," Penny said. "We have to go home now. And it's Mrs. Bennet. Not Ms. Ringer anymore. She got married and now has the same last name as her husband."

"I usually remember!" Savannah said. "Most of the times."

"And I'm just reminding you so you will keep remembering just as good as you normally do," Penny said, smiling affectionately.

"Mommy?"

Penny sighed, knowing that her irritability was at her aching feet, her sudden need to pee, and the heat, not just her daughter, and she had to be careful not to let the feet, bladder, and temperature parts of her get angry with Savannah. "Yes, sweetie?"

"Why do you and Daddy not have the same last name?"

Penny almost ran the red light and caught it at the last second, jolting the car to a stop. The man in the car to her left, now with a green light, gave her an angry look as if her near traffic infraction had completely ruined his day. Fortunately for the already stressed out blonde, she didn't see his glare. As was her habit with any unexpected motion in the car, she turned to check on Savannah. She found a daughter completely unconcerned with the rough stop, but who was looking to her mother for an answer.

Penny looked Savannah in the eyes for a moment before pursing her lips, shrugging, and giving an honest answer. "I don't know, Savannah. I don't know. It just never happened."

**Quick note here: this will not be updated every other day like The Parental Ambition was. Perhaps once I finish Just The Girl and Blood Trail, my two current WIPs, that can happen. I just wanted to get this out there so people can start following it if they'd like. I'm not saying that there won't be an update until March or anything, but don't hold your breath for Tuesday.**

**As always, reviews are splendid.**


	2. How To Use The Shields

**New chapter! This one is a bit longer, because I definitely won't be updating until at least Monday after this.**

**In addition, I have another poll on my profile page, please go and vote! We're trying to see if there's any interest, so your votes are appreciated!**

**Don't own anything but Savannah (and Iris I suppose, but she is only mentioned, so I'll save that full disclaimer for later.)**

Still holding Savannah by the hand, Penny marched up the stairs, stopping, unexpectedly for the four year old, and not continuing up to the fifth floor as usual but banging on the door to 4A before barging in, pulling her daughter behind her. "Sheldon Lee Cooper, I am going to cut off your…" Penny trailed off, remembering that she also fell under the 'careful what you say around Savannah' rule. "How many times have I told you not to say certain words around my daughter?" She demanded of the physicist, who was sitting in his spot looking perplexed.

"Hey, Savvy!" Amy said, coming out of the bathroom and running playfully down the hall into the living area.

Savannah grinned and skipped – or tried to, she still hadn't quite gotten the hang of that particular skill – toward the neuro – biologist. "Auntie Ames!"

Amy scooped Savannah up and swayed side to side, the little girl's legs swinging out beyond where Amy swayed. "Inertia!" Amy said enthusiastically, and the little girl giggled.

"Penny," Sheldon said, looking away from Amy and their 'niece'. "If your daughter comes into the apartment unexpectedly and I am in the middle of a conversation with my wife, sometimes she overhears words before we realize she's there. Can you blame me for that?"

"No, I suppose not," Penny said. "Is that what happened with 'coitus'?"

"Shhh! Penny, she's right there!" Sheldon said, putting a finger to his lips.

"Oh shut up, Sheldon," Penny said. "She's not listening to me. But is that how she picked up that word? You didn't know she was there?"

"No," Sheldon said. "I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page with my thing."

"_Ugh!_" Penny said, dropping her purse and curling her hands into fists.

"Mommy!" Savannah twisted out of Amy's arms and ran over to her mother. "Say no to violence!" she said, jumping up and grabbing Penny's wrists.

"Hey, hey!" Penny said sternly. "Stop jumping, if you knock me over the baby will be born with an oddly shaped head."

Savannah giggled. "Like an alien?" she asked. "Like E.T.? Or the…" she mimed playing clarinet and bobbed her head.

"Is she doing the cantina scene in Star Wars?" Sheldon asked.

"You're one to talk," Penny said to her daughter. "You're not the one that has to get her out of your tummy."

"Do I have to do coitus?" Savannah asked.

"Well," Sheldon started.

"Don't!" Penny warned, holding a finger up toward the theoretical physicist. She turned back to her daughter and slowly lowered herself to her knees. "Baby," she told the girl, "you never have to do coitus, you hear me? Never, ever, ever, ever, ever. Or, you know, even say that word. Ever."

"Ever ever ever!" She piped up, seeming to think that it was a game.

"I'm serious!" Penny snapped, and Savannah quieted down immediately, looking concerned. "Sorry," she said.

Savannah's lip trembled. "What did I do?"

"Nothing," Penny said, putting her hands on the girl's cheeks. "Nothing, sweetheart."

"Then why did you yell at me?"

"I'm sorry," Penny said, looking her daughter square in the eye. "Mommy must be a little irritable today because her…her back hurts."

"Backs often hurt during the later stages of pregnancy," Sheldon offered up, looking at the little girl, "because of the added weight in front." He pointed at Penny's middle as if he thought Savannah needed help picking out the visual aid.

"Oh," Savannah said, nodding. She looked over at Amy. "I don't like when backs hurt."

"Your back hasn't hurt you a day in your life, silly," Penny said.

Savannah wasn't listening. She turned to Amy. "Is that why you aren't a Mommy?"

"Okay!" Penny said loudly, messing up her daughter's hair. "You ready to go upstairs and have a snack?"

Savannah's attention redirected from the uncomfortable looking neurobiologist and back to her mother. "Cheese and crackers?"

"If that's what Savannah wants," Penny said, smiling. She held out her hand. "Come on, baby. I'd like to have you eat something before your little brother or sister gets here."

"My sister!" Savannah insisted.

"Maybe. Maybe it's a brother."

"It's a sister."

"We'll find out soon enough," Penny said, smiling and giving a little wave goodbye as they walked toward the door.

"Just one month!" Savannah said to Sheldon and Amy. "Like Christmas."

* * *

"Hey – ey," Leonard said in the same two syllable singsong that he always did, pushing the front door open and dropping his key in the bowl – a habit that he found inconvenient to change after moving out of 4A.

"Daddy!" Savannah said, jumping up from her picture book on the floor and running over to him. Leonard scooped his daughter up and cuddled her to his chest. "Hey, baby girl, how was school?"

"Great!" She said brightly. "They let me leave early. But I couldn't be line leader."

"You got to leave early?" Leonard asked, confused. He looked over to Penny, and she pressed her lips together and raised her eyebrows slightly from the kitchen. "Why don't you go in your room and count how many stuffed animals are in the baby's crib?"

Savannah nodded eagerly, and Leonard let her down and watched her dash down the hall. "Hey, honey," he said, making his way over to her and giving her a quick kiss on the lips. "What's wrong?"

"Our daughter told her preschool class that mommies and daddies have to 'do the coitus' before they can have a baby."

Leonard's eyebrows shot up. "She did?"

Penny nodded. "Yep." She tapped her fingers on the counter. "And she took the ultrasound picture off the fridge and brought it as a visual aid."

"Show and tell day," Leonard said, the pieces finally clicking together in his head. "I thought she was bringing the lock of hair from the pony she rode?"

"Yeah, well, so did I," Penny said. "I found that in the bottom of her backpack along with a tampon that had Googly Eyes glued to it."

"Why would - "

"Mouse."

Leonard stared at her for a moment before bursting out laughing. "Are you serious? Does she even know what that's…supposed to be for?"

"Well, she doesn't know what coitus is, but she does know that we have to do that to give her a sibling."

"I hope she doesn't want more after this one," he said, "or she might be a bit embarrassing when she asks for one in public."

"What did we do, Leonard?" Penny said jokingly, shaking her head.

Leonard smiled. "And how are you today? Apart from having to run interference on the little informant?"

"Well, the Braxtons started up again," she said. "But you know, nothing I can't handle."

"Are you sure they're Braxtons?" Leonard said.

"I'm a month away from my due date," Penny reminded him, sliding her arms around his neck.

"This is a pretty big baby," Leonard said. "They said she'll be at least a pound more than Savannah. She might be early."

"Don't remind me," Penny said, putting a finger to his lips. "And yes, I'm sure. I know what a real contraction feels like."

"I know you do," Leonard said, kissing her forehead and then sliding one of his hands around to her neck, guiding her head to tuck under his chin as she shifted her position to accommodate their second child.

"Hey!" Savannah said, running back into the room. "I want the hug!"

"Well, then come here, you," Penny said, holding an arm out toward the girl. Savannah grinned, giggled, and ran over to her parents, scooting as close as she could.

"There's my baby girl," Leonard said, mussing up her hair.

Savannah frowned. "Mommy already did that!"

Penny and Leonard laughed. "You have such a rough life," Penny said, wiggling her fingers against Savannah's side.

The girl squealed and jumped away. "That tickles!"

Penny stuck her tongue out, and Savannah returned the gesture. "Hey!" Leonard chided. "That's rude to your mother."

"I provoked her," Penny said, waving her hand dismissively. "Savvy, go wash up for dinner."

The little girl ran toward the bathroom, and Penny shook her head. "She runs _everywhere_ and I'm to the point where I don't even want to move." She turned back to the stove to check on the pasta.

Leonard kissed the back of her neck. "Just a few more weeks," he reminded her again.

"Uh-huh," she said. Then she turned to look at him. "Savannah asked Amy why she didn't have any kids," she blurted, wanting to also bring up Savannah's comment about why they weren't married, but hedging.

"Oh God," Leonard said. "What did she say?"

"I intervened and got her out of there."

"She's at that age, Penny," Leonard said. "And she has a new sibling on the way, she's going to ask why every childless couple doesn't have kids. I'm sure Amy understands that."

"I know she does," Penny said. "She knows Savvy's gonna start asking. But that doesn't make it less…what's the word?"

"I know what you mean," Leonard said. "But we can't dwell on Sheldon and Amy right now. That was months ago, and it was _sad_, and coming after the scares with your father and Iris it was almost overwhelming…I'm surprised we kept Savannah from the stress we were all under. But right now," he said, putting a hand on her stomach, "we need to focus on the baby. The _good_ thing. This is something we know how to do, and know how to handle. We can't dwell on this stuff."

"But I'm going to _need_ to know how to handle Savannah if she keeps asking questions," Penny said. "I understand what you're saying, I really do, but having something familiar doesn't change the fact that we're still learning how to handle our oldest." She bit her lip. "I want to shield her from everything, Leonard, and now…now that she's asking questions, we won't always be there to give her answers. She might find something out at school, from the older kids or the adults, and chances are she'll here some answers she's not ready to hear."

"A possibility that faces every single child in the world," Leonard said. "And you know, kids learn the most from their peers and parents, and I highly doubt she'll be around peers…and certainly not parents…that I had, so she won't be told things quite as…bluntly." He grinned. "And I turned out fun and adorable, so she'll be even better."

"She'll be even better because _I'm_ her mother," Penny said. "Right?" She folded her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Because, let's be serious, I'm part of why you're fun and adorable."

"Of course, dear," Leonard said quickly, and they grinned at each other, and then Penny leaned over to kiss him.

Savannah reentered the living area, practicing her skipping, and she stopped when she saw her parents with their lips locked. "Ewww!" she said, putting her hands on her hips.

They parted, looked at her, and then her father grinned. "Hey, Savvy," he said, leaning in and kissing her mother again, on the cheek, making a loud kissing sound.

The little girl shrieked again and put her hands over her eyes dramatically.

"Oh, quit it," Penny said, turning from Leonard and taking the pot off the stove, tipping the spaghetti into the strainer. "Come here if you want noodles."

Savannah looked at her parents suspiciously.

"Oh, come here," Leonard said. "I promise we won't kiss until you aren't looking."

**Don't forget to review! You all know I love it when you do that. : ) And don't forget to vote in the poll!  
**


	3. Ten Over Ten

**New update! I know we haven't met all the characters yet, that is coming, I promise, but I'm still completing my story maps for the other storylines (which won't be as extensive in this fic as The Parental Ambition, but I **_**do **_**still want to acknowledge that other characters are still around and living their lives despite the focus not being on them) and I promise we will see them soon!**

**Now on to this chapter. I own Savannah and Iris, but remember, not Gilda. The writers created her, whether she made it to the show or not.**

"Now," the speaker asked in a businesslike manner, gathering her medical tools in her arms, "anything you want to get looked at today?"

"Well, I'm very concerned about my heart," Penny said, shifting her weight and adjusting her maternity shirt over her stomach. "I think you might want to check that out, Doctor."

"Okay, Aunt Penny!" Iris said, putting her little hand on Penny's belly.

"Her heart is in her chest, stupid!" Savannah said from her mother's other side, taking the toy stethoscope from the older girl.

"Savannah!" Penny said. "Language!"

"I _know_ where her heart is, stupid!" Iris said, snatching it from her. "I'm six! Your brother's kicking!"

"Iris! You shouldn't say that either," Penny said.

"My sister's kicking?" Savannah said, putting her hand near Iris's.

"No no," Penny said, giving up correcting them and putting her hand over both of theirs, sliding them slightly farther toward the center and down. "Feel it better?"

"Aaaah!" The girls shrieked, jumping up and down. Iris, who didn't get to feel the baby move as much as Savannah, clapped.

"Don't drop the stethoscope!" Penny said. "I need you to check my heart!"

Iris put the item on and placed the chest piece on the center of Penny's chest. "Here?"

"Little to the left, girlie," Penny said.

Iris adjusted the chest piece. "There?"

"Very good," Penny said, putting her hand on the girl's head.

"Mommy, is it a brother or a sister?" Savannah asked. "I want a sister."

"We don't know what it is," Penny said. "She's still in here, we can't see her to know."

"You knew Savannah was a girl," Iris said.

Savannah stopped putting the toy blood pressure cuff on Penny's right arm. "You did?"

"Yep!" Iris said.

"Mommy," Savannah started. Penny knew what she was going to ask, but let her finish. "Why did you know I was a girl but you don't know about the baby's?"

"Well, Savvy," Penny said, lifting her hand up to put her daughter's hair behind her ear. "You were our first baby. Remember how on your first day of school you were scared, and I walked you all the way to your classroom?"

"Uh-huh."

"But now," Penny said, "you want to be a big girl and I just take you up to the school door, right?"

"Yes," Savannah said. "And Olivia and I walk to Mrs. Anderson's all by ourselves!"

"Exactly," Penny said. "But the first time, you wanted to be extra extra careful, just like Daddy and I when we were going to have you. This time we want if it's a boy or a girl to be a surprise."

"I like surprises," Savannah said.

"Me too!" Iris chimed in.

"Did someone say 'surprises'?"

"Daddy!" Savannah ran around her mother's recliner and jumped up against Leonard.

"Whoa, easy there," Leonard said, using one arm to hold his daughter while holding a plastic bag out of the way. "Don't break your surprises."

"He really has surprises!" Iris said, handing the stethoscope to Penny and running over to Leonard. "Please! Please!"

"Hang on," Leonard said, opening the bag. "This is for you," he said, handing a plastic toy to Iris. "And," he said, handing a second toy to his daughter. "This one's for you, Savvy."

"A gun?" Savannah asked.

"No," Leonard said.

"A hair dryer?"

"No no!" Iris said, pointing to the words on the cardboard backing. She was two years older and could read better than Savannah. "Voice…voice changer."

"Leonard Hofstadter," Penny started.

"Buh-ba-ba!" Leonard said, holding his hand up. He crouched down near the girls. "Press one of these buttons and talk into them."

The girls tried, and then squealed with delight.

"Hey beautiful," Leonard said. "Do you check out?"

"My heart is fine," Penny said. "I wouldn't know about my blood pressure," she said louder.

Savannah skipped over and looked at the cuff. She put the voice changer up to her mouth. "Ten over ten," she said. "You're perfect."

Leonard burst out laughing. "Why don't you and Iris go in your room and play with your surprises?"

"And don't jump on the bed again!" Penny called as they dashed off.

"Blood pressure, ten over ten," Leonard said. "That's…"

"Perfect," Penny said. "Nurse Savannah said so." She looked up at him. "How was work?"

"Work was fine," Leonard said, squeezing her hand. "How are you feeling?"

"Relieved," Penny said. "Turns out my heart is just fine."

Leonard smiled. "I mean really."

"I got to spend the day with Savannah and Iris," Penny said. "I was happy as a clam. Like a boy at a baseball game. Gilda in a room full of boards."

"They took good care of you, huh?"

"Perfect. We should hire them out. Make some extra money."

Leonard chuckled. "I don't think we're that desperate financially."

"Not at the moment," Penny agreed. "That plus my ten over ten blood pressure…I don't see how it gets better."

Leonard laughed and leaned down to kiss her, and then the top of her stomach, and then he and Penny smiled at each other. She reached over and took his hand, squeezing it. "I love you," she said up at him.

"Right back at you," Leonard said, smiling.

Penny smiled back, and then shifted her weight. "Come in!" she called in response to the knock at the door. "Hey Gilda."

Gilda surveyed the toy medical equipment around Penny. "You didn't make them pick up their toys?"

Gilda had always been more particular about teaching the girls neatness than Penny or Leonard was, and as a result, Iris was neater than Savannah. "The apple didn't fall far," Sheldon and Gilda both agreed.

"They are off celebrating my ten over ten blood pressure," Penny said. "I'm sure Iris will tell you all about it during your Board Time before bed."

"About that," Gilda said. "When she spends the night over here with Savannah, I'd appreciate – or rather, Mark and I would appreciate – if you make sure she spends some time with her board before bed. We accept that you guys have story time, but I don't want Iris to fall out of her habits."

Leonard was staring at her with an eyebrow raised. "Really? You _and_ Mark would appreciate that?"

Gilda pressed her lips together and looked at Leonard. "Exactly."

Leonard shook his head teasingly. "Whatever you say."

"Iris!" Penny shouted, causing the adults on either side of her to jump. "Your mother is here!"

Like a mini stampede, Iris and Savannah ran out of the bedroom, 'riding' on toy stick horses, neighing into their voice changers.

"Hey," Penny said, clapping her hands to get them to quiet down. "No galloping indoors!"

"What have you there?" Gilda asked as Iris ran up to her. "A voice changer, huh?" She smiled. "I think we could do some great graphs on the sound range from this thing on the board tonight, does that sound like fun?"

"Can I use my new markers?" Iris asked, a grin coming over her face.

"You sure can, baby girl," Gilda said, touching her daughter's nose.

Savannah had fallen silent, standing by her mother's chair. Leaning over to Penny, the stick horse's nose bumping against Savannah's baby brother or sister, the girl held her hand up to her mouth and said in a stage whisper. "I don't understand, Mama."

"It's okay, baby girl," Penny said, reaching over to curl her arm around her daughter's shoulders. "We don't get it either."

**Hope you guys enjoyed it! As said above, we'll find out more about Howard, Bernadette, Raj, Raj's girlfriend, and more Shamy in later chapters. And yes, the meaning of the title is very relevant to the fic, but no, you won't find out the relevance until much later. :) See? Proof I plan ahead. ;)**

**Review if you'd like to - you know I'd love you to!**


	4. Magic Arms

**Thought I would give you all a new chapter today since it's also new episode day! As you may have noticed, this fic is now rated M. Honestly, most fics with the content this fic has and will have are rated T. But this chapter has – and other chapters will have – what I would define as 'mildly suggestive adult themes' and has that characterized as an M story, so I will make it an M story. Remember that this will no longer appear in the main filter, so if you normally miss stories like that, be sure to follow it so you'll be told when it's updated.**

"It feels like so long since we've had time for the girls," Bernadette said, smiling across the table at Amy.

"I know," Amy said. "I'm sorry I haven't been very social these past few months."

"We totally understand," Penny said. "We're just glad that you let us in."

"Well, I couldn't not," Amy said, "you two are my closest friends." She sighed. "I just don't know why I never thought that my unpredictable cycle could be a sign of a reproductive problem."

"It's best not to dwell on it," Penny said gently.

Amy nodded. "I know."

"Have you and Sheldon talked about adoption?" Bernadette asked. "You'd mentioned to us last month that you were thinking about that conversation."

Amy shrugged. "We had a brief discussion. But I don't want to adopt. Call me selfish, because I know it is, but…" she shrugged. "I don't want to raise a baby that isn't Sheldon's. And he doesn't want to raise a baby that isn't mine."

"I can understand that," Bernadette said. "But if you did adopt, you would get to skip the pregnancy/childbirth part."

"I don't want to skip that part!" Amy said. "No, we've decided. Sheldon and I are not going to be parents. I thought you guys took me out to take my mind off it," she reminded them with a smile.

"Right, sorry," Penny said. "So Missy will be back in a week or so."

"Oh yeah?" Bernadette said. "Is Raj excited?"

"He's ridiculously happy," Penny said. "It's adorable. She called him last night while we were watching TV, and he pretty much bounded out of the room to take the call. Savannah gave him the oddest look, and then looked at me and Leonard as if we could explain that. Leonard just said 'he's pretty happy.' Understatement of the decade."

"I think it's adorable that they've been together almost four years and he's still that giddy to hear from her," Bernadette said.

"Too bad his meds didn't wear off, or they could be a dozen years strong already," Penny commented.

Amy looked confused for a moment, and then she nodded as she recalled what Penny was referencing. "Maybe Sheldon and I should do that," she said.

"Do what?"

"Get a pet. You know, Raj and Missy are living together and have the dogs. Maybe Sheldon and I should get a pet to substitute for our inability to have children. Like maybe a cat. We both love cats."

"You think a cat will satisfy your longing for a baby?" Penny asked.

Amy shrugged. "Maybe. If it's a cute little cuddly cat." She shrugged. "What time are you picking Savannah up from Gilda's?"

"In a couple of hours," Penny said. "I stopped by right before I came here to make Savannah eat the vitamin that she hit under her placemat this morning, and she and Iris were drawing – or diagraming, if you're talking to Gilda – on Iris's board, discussing what their babies would look like if they got married. Gilda was trying to explain the whole thing about how two girls can't have a baby that looks like both of them, and Iris yelled something about how Gilda is supposed to be encouraging them to use their imaginations."

Amy and Bernadette both started laughing. "That sounds like Iris," Amy said.

"It sounds like Iris's kindergarten teacher," Penny said. "I don't think that woman can go thirty seconds without saying 'use your imagination'."

"Speaking of teachers," Bernadette said, "what's Mrs. Bennet been like since the coitus incident?"

"She's very wary to call on Savannah for anything, even when they're identifying colors and rhyming words." Penny shook her head. "Savannah's a bit frustrated. But Leonard told her that she can teach her baby brother or sister all the colors and rhyming words, and that made her happier."

"Leonard's such a good daddy," Bernadette said.

Penny glanced at Amy, wondering if the conversation was too sensitive for her, but the neurobiologist was nodding as she took another drink of her water – Amy had been so good about not getting upset when they talked about Penny's pregnancy. Penny smiled. "Yeah, he is."

"Is he just as wildly attractive to you as Missy is to Raj?" Bernadette asked mischeviously.

"Well, we haven't been doing too much recently," Penny said. "What with…" she gestured to her stomach, "this, but yeah, he is. I mean, we've been together longer than Raj and Missy, and we've had such a hectic last couple of years, but…" she nodded. "Of course he is. I'll always find him attractive."

* * *

Penny stared at the ceiling. She didn't know what time it was, but considering it was two seventeen the last time she looked at the clock, it was probably still before two thirty. She couldn't sleep, but not because of discomfort. She was just…awake.

Penny let her head tip toward the clock radio. Two twenty four. Groaning slightly, Penny looked back up at the ceiling. It was going to be a long night.

She turned her head the other way. She could barely see Leonard in the dim moon light coming through the window, but she smiled anyway. He looked absolutely adorable, lying on his side facing her, the moon hitting his skin. He was wearing his white tee shirt that showed off his arms, and all of a sudden, despite what she'd said to the girls earlier that day, Penny couldn't remember the last time she'd found him so attractive.

She looked at the clock again. Two twenty five. Looking back at Leonard, Penny scooted closer to him, moving the covers over and running her hand from his shoulder to hip and back again. Leonard shifted his weight slightly but didn't wake up. Penny smiled mischievously. He was on his side, but she scooted over to his side of the bed and pushed him over onto his back, getting a leg on either side of him but keeping her body leaned to the right so she could still kiss his neck without her stomach getting in the way. After a moment or two, she shifted so she was centered over him and began rubbing his chest to get him to wake up. "Leonard," she whispered, moving to run her hands along his arms.

"Mmm," Leonard mumbled, his eyes opening slightly. Penny leaned forward, putting some weight on her hands as well as her knees, and stretched her head down to kiss him on the lips. He kissed her back and put his hands on her stomach. "Penny, he whispered, "what are you doing?"

"Is there some sort of problem?" she asked teasingly, putting one of her hands on his stomach and running it farther down.

"No," he said, his breath hitching. "But if we do this…" his hands went to her hips, "you could go into labor. You know that, right?"

"So?" Penny asked, using her free hand to twist the fabric of his under shirt between her fingers and then moving it up to her own maternity nightshirt, fumbling to undo the buttons with one hand, but managing.

"We'd have to wake Sheldon and Amy up to give them Savannah."

"Leonard," she said, leaning slightly forward and placing both hands flat on his chest. "Sheldon used to wake us up all the time. This would be payback."

"Mmmm," Leonard said, smiling up at her. "This is pretty good payback."

"That's right," Penny said, "and we might even get a baby out of it. In a different way than we've previously gotten babies out of it."

Leonard looked up at her. "My God, you're attractive." He freed his hands from hers and sat up, sliding his arms around her, raising an eyebrow when the motion caused her body to shudder. "What?"

"Your arms," she said, sliding her own around his neck as best as she could and kissing him again.

Leonard raised an eyebrow slightly, and then ran his arms up and down her back, eliciting more of a response from her than he'd expected. Her pregnancy hormones were certainly interesting, but he wasn't complaining.

She tried to rid him of his boxers at the same time he began tugging her pajama pants down over her hips, and with her cumbersome figure, they almost toppled over, Penny's momentum likely to carry her off the bed. "Whoa," Penny said, pulling on his shirt to keep her balance. "How about we just undress ourselves?"

Leonard grinned at her – almost toppling over was funny when it stayed _almost_ – and nodded. "Good plan."

She giggled, kissed him, and shifted off of him so she could remove the pants. "When was the last time we did this?" she asked Leonard.

"Had sex, or had spur of the moment sex in the middle of the night?" Leonard asked. "Hmmm, well if we think about the times that we weren't so exhausted from the day we both slept through the night, plus right after Savannah was born when were weren't sleeping together, then we can probably figure out the most likely..."

"Honey," Penny said, tossing her undergarments across the room and grabbing his boxers from his hand, throwing them in the same direction before straddling him again, "shut up and kiss me."

Leonard put his hands back on her hips. "Yes, ma'am."


	5. The Magic Number

**I seem to need to be on a near every other day basis with this sequel, like I was with the original. But no one minds, right?**

**Also, in case you aren't reading Just The Girl, Roxanne (ennaxor) and I have started a podcast for the show where we talk about news, ideas, and the most recent episode. Our first episode is now up at , so feel free to check that out!**

**And now, the next chapter of The Sulfur Juxtaposition.**

* * *

"So," Penny said, easing herself next to Leonard and falling on to her back. "Who says couples eight months pregnant can't get it on, huh?"

Leonard gave a little laugh, and then sucked in a breath. "In…"

"What?"

"In…haler."

"Oh!" Penny sat up and reached over to grab it. "Here." Leonard took the medication and then let out another breath. "Okay, I'm good." He lifted a hand, and Penny slapped it with her own. "You can wake me up at two in the morning more often, you know," he said, grinning at her.

"Noted," Penny said, taking the inhaler back from him and reaching to set it back on the. "Oh, God!" She dropped the inhaler and put her hands on her sides.

Leonard's eyes widened? "Contraction?"

She nodded, closing her eyes and letting her breath out through her mouth.

"Real one?"

She nodded again, shifting her weight slightly and then opening her eyes. "That was fast."

"Is it supposed to start that fast?"

Penny gave a little laugh. "You should know by now that nothing is by the book." She lay back down and shifted uncomfortably. "We'll just have to see if there are more."

"Do you want to go sit on the ball?" Leonard asked.

Penny shook her head. "Not yet. Try to sleep, okay?"

"That's what I was doing, until you decided to wake me up," Leonard teased, rolling on his side and kissing her cheek.

"Sorry not sorry!" she said. "Now go to sleep, you. I'll wake you up if this keeps going."

"How am I going to sleep now?" he asked. "Surprise sex plus possible baby? Nuh-uh. Adrenaline is too much right now."

"Well, we could talk about names, then," Penny said. "We still haven't been able to agree."

"I still like names that have to do with scientists," Leonard said. "Darwin, Marie…"

"And I like names that would go good with Savannah, with the S sound. Scott, Sarah, Sierra, Sam…"

"Didn't you date a Sam?" Leonard asked.

"That's not _why_ I like the name," Penny said. "But now that you brought him up…I'm going to veto my own idea."

"Maybe we'll know when we see him or her," Leonard said. "Which could be pretty soon now."

"No more than three weeks," Penny said. "If she goes to full term she'll be near ten pounds and then they'll have a C-section."

"Don't want that," Leonard said.

"No, I don't, but at least I'm not afraid of stitches like you," she teased.

* * *

Leonard slept later than he'd planned to the following morning; his alarm hadn't gone off. Penny wasn't beside him, and he immediately checked the bathroom. It was empty. Figuring nothing had happened over night, Leonard wandered out into the living room to see his pregnant Penny opening the toy from Savannah's cereal and handing it to the girl. "Yay!" Savannah said. "Daddy, look! It's a monkey stuffed animal!"

"Aunt Amy would approve," Leonard said mussing Savannah's hair. "Nothing?" he asked of Penny. She shook her head.

"What?" Savannah asked.

"We were thinking that the baby might come this morning," Leonard said, "but nope."

"Aw," Savannah said, clearly disappointed. Then, demonstrating a four year old's attention span, she asked, "who is taking me to school?"

"Aunt Gilda," Penny said. "She's going right by your school on her way to the dentist."

"Okay," Savannah said, watching her mother pour milk in her cereal. "Spoon?"

"Got it," Leonard said, reaching into the drawer and handing her the Mickey Mouse utensil.

When Savannah finished eating, Leonard took her by the hand to lead her downstairs to Sheldon and Amy's, where she'd await Gilda and Iris' arrival.

Penny watched him go, suddenly wishing that Sheldon or Amy had come up to get Savannah, rather than him having to leave. She found herself full of energy this morning, probably as a result of the endorphins from the night before, and despite her advanced pregnancy and the other mothers she'd talked to that spoke of nonexistent libido in the last month, Penny found that she wanted him again. With her newfound energy, she'd cleaned the apartment before Leonard and Savannah had even woken up, and now there really was nothing else to do before Leonard left for work.

Penny went into her bedroom and pulled her shirt off over her head, looking at herself in the mirror. Her stomach was big, no question about it, and she could almost see the footprint when the baby kicked, but she hadn't gained an excessive amount of baby weight, her breasts looked great in her black maternity bra, and her skin was still clear. She knew that she could still be considered attractive, and she knew that Leonard still found her to be so – even in broad daylight.

"Penny?" she heard his voice, sounding confused, from just inside the apartment. "Where'd you go?"

Leaving her shirt off, Penny walked out into the living room. "If you were wondering about something to do before work," she said. "I'd like to offer myself up."

Leonard cocked his head to the left. "Someone like what happened last night?" he asked playfully.

"Mmmm, maybe someone did," she said walking toward him. "Take off your pants."

"Real fast," Leonard held up a hand, "you know what Savannah said to Sheldon down there?"

Penny cocked her head. "What?"

"She told him a joke," Leonard said. "She said 'why can't you hear a pterodactyl go to the bathroom?"

Penny thought. "Why?"

"Because the 'P' is silent."

Penny burst out laughing. "That's fantastic."

"She's so clever," Leonard said, smiling proudly. "I mean, I've heard the joke, but still."

"She's smart like her daddy," Penny said, coming over to him and putting her hands on his chest. "Did she say anything else that was clever."

"No," Leonard said, another smile coming over his face. "I think that was about it."

Penny nodded, and then gestured with her head to the couch. "Then take off your pants. And your jacket. Show off those arms."

* * *

"Dammit," Penny said, when a contraction hit just minutes after she and Leonard had finished.

"Again, huh?" Leonard said.

"Yeah," she said pausing momentarily and then going back to putting her sweatpants back on. "I'm sure one of these times it will be for real."

"Hopefully that day isn't too far off," Leonard said. "I hate seeing you looking so uncomfortable."

"It's not too bad," she said, smiling. "Really. I'm not working, so I can sit whenever I want."

"True," Leonard said, slipping his boxers back on and flipping onto his back on the couch. "True."

"Not that that's always the most comfortable thing to be doing, but you know." Penny sat on the front edge of the couch and began kissing him, curling her fingers around his. He kissed her back, squeezing her hand, and they remained locked for several minutes until Penny smiled, stood up, and went toward the bedroom to put her shirt back on.

Then a second contraction hit, and Penny, not expecting it, leaned over the bed, pushing her hands against the covers and letting out a long breath. She tipped her head to the side to look at the clock. It'd been five minutes since the last one.

Five minutes.

That was the magic number, the get-to-the-hospital-now number, but Penny still wasn't sure if these were the real thing. Contractions after sex, especially in the later stages, were unpredictable, and despite the fact that second labors could go much faster than the first, Penny wasn't sure it was time to go to the hospital just yet.

She went into the bathroom and pulled her hair up into the ponytail, and then headed back out into the living room. "Leonard," she said, "I had another contraction. Five minutes after the first one."

Leonard jumped up. "Do we need to go?"

"I don't know," Penny said. "Maybe. There's only been two."

"Okay," Leonard said, getting up. "I'm gonna grab the bag anyway."

"Sure," Penny said. She walked over to the kitchen and adjusted Savannah's homemade magnet that held up a drawing she'd done in crayon of her, Penny, and Leonard.

"Okay," I've got everything we need," Leonard said. "You want to go just to be safe?"

"Might as well," Penny said. Leonard got her shoes from the floor by the door and brought them to her. She settled down on the couch and put them on. "This is a comfy seat," she said, leaning back and closing her eyes. "I might just stay here instead."

"Penny," Leonard said sternly, holding out his hand to her. "Some women have had half hour second labors and weren't able to get to the hospital. We are going while you can still walk because I am not letting you have this baby on the floor in the apartment and I'm even less comfortable with the idea of pulling over on the way to the hospital."

She smiled and took his hand, and he helped pull her up. "Oh-h," she said, wobbling slightly, hanging onto Leonard's hands for balance. She looked at Leonard. "My water broke. Contraction."

"Then I'd say we're on our way," Leonard said, putting an arm behind her back and walking her toward the bedroom once the contraction was over. He dug through her drawers and tossed her clean shorts.

She raised her eyebrows. "Those don't exactly go with…fine!" she said when he raised an eyebrow at her. She put them on and went into the bathroom, turning on the sink and splashing cold water on her face. Taking a long look at herself in the mirror, she let out a heavy breath. "Okay," she said, nodding and coming back out to join Leonard. "Let's go."

They were in the lobby when Penny's muscles tightened again and she grabbed on to Leonard for support. The arm she wasn't holding went around her back, and he reminded her to exhale. She did, blowing out and then taking in another deep breath, not letting up on her grip on his arm for several more seconds. "That one was worse, wasn't it?" he asked.

She nodded. "That'll happen sometimes after your water breaks."

"We'll be at the hospital in less than ten minutes," Leonard reminded her as they moved out to the car. "Just try to relax."

"Mmm hmm," she said, climbing into the passenger seat and leaning back, putting the seat belt on and shifting in discomfort.

"If the belt's bothering you, un clip it," Leonard said. "I'm not going to drive recklessly with you in the car."

"Because you're such a speed demon when I'm not," she said, taking the belt off. "Leonard, I don't want fast labor."

"Why not?" Leonard asked. "It'll be over quick. And with the way everything's going now, you could be done in an hour."

"Would you rather walk a mile or run a mile?" Penny asked. "Same distance covered, but at different paces."

"I'm not in shape," Leonard said. "I don't run all the time. But I see your point."

"I don't have babies all the time either," Penny said, her breath catching at the end of her sentence. "Another one. Four minutes."

"Easy there," Leonard said, reaching over and taking her hand. "But, and I hate to quote Jar Jar Binks, but yousa point is well seen."

"What?" She managed through the pain, cracking her eyes open and looking at him, squinting into the sun.

"Nothing." He squeezed her hand and began moving his thumb over her skin. "We'll be there soon. Don't worry about a thing. We've done this before."

Penny nodded in agreement. Fast labor or no, this wasn't an unknown anymore. She knew what to expect, and she took comfort in that as the car flew in the direction of the hospital.

**Just a reminder that Penny's pregnancy isn't the focus of this fic, so the baby's coming rather early on, rather than at the end. I still have ten thousand words written, and I typically double – or more – my word count in editing. :)**


	6. Very Not Normal

**New chapter! Warning, this chapter may contain sensitive content. I don't want to specify what kind, but just take context into account.**

**I also don't own anything. As usual. Just keeping everything related to that all homeostasis.**

* * *

"How far apart are your contractions?" asked the doctor, separating Penny's knees to check her dilation.

"Three minutes now," Leonard said. "She's been having them for about twenty five minutes, only, and they've gotten worse since her water broke, which was like fifteen minutes ago."

"Sometimes labor accelerates quickly," the doctor said, nodding. "How long was it for your first baby?"

"Less than a day," Leonard said.

"Well," the doctor said to Penny. "You're at about seven centimeters already. You could be ready to push in ten minutes, if this keeps progressing as it has so far."

"And to think an hour ago we thought it wouldn't happen today," Penny said, tensing up then and squeezing Leonard's hand.

"Good, good," he said, putting his free hand on top of her head.

"You're doing fantastic," the doctor said, patting her knee. "Fast labor happens sometimes with second or third babies, and I know you've done this before. You're going to be in labor for far less time, but the effort your body is putting out to complete this process fast is taxing. You're going to feel in less control than you did last time. It's a little scary sometimes, and it's often more painful, but just remember that it won't last long. You could have your baby in less than a half hour. Just remember that. I need to check on a high risk; I'll be back in less than five minutes. You know how to get someone in here if you need anything before then."

Penny closed her eyes and nodded. When the doctor was gone, she shifted her weight, and then looked at Leonard. "Help me up."

"Okay," he said, helping her ease out of bed. She turned and bent over the bed, resting her lower arms on the surface as if she was planking, and rested her forehead on her hands. She barely got her deep breath in before it turned into a grunt and her body tensed up. Leonard put his hands on her lower back and massaged, the way he had the last time, and he heard a tense "thank you", as the contraction faded.

"Look on the bright side," Leonard said. "This will all be over in, well, probably a half hour, tops."

"I thought the bright side was that you didn't take Savannah to school," Penny said. "You wouldn't be back by now and I'd be on my hands and knees in the bathtub, or something."

"Well, you're not," Leonard said. "I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

"I know," she said, nodding. "I know."

"Not to mention you might not be in labor right now if not for this morning and…" He felt her tense up again just before he heard her grunt, and he went back to massaging her back as she tried to maintain even breaths, but halfway through it she took a shaky step back and dropped to the floor.

Leonard fell to his knees next to her. "Are you okay? Is this comfortable? Want me to still rub your back?"

Penny closed her eyes and nodded, and Leonard scooted around to the other side of her and put his fingers back to work, focusing on the lower back where her contractions were originating. Another one manifested, not even two minutes after the previous one, and Penny whimpered quietly, pushing her fingers into the linoleum with so much force they turned white.

"You're okay," Leonard said, putting his hand on her stomach. "You're okay, Penny. I love you so much, you hear me? So much."

She nodded, keeping her eyes closed. "Leonard, I don't like this."

"You just don't like this part," Leonard said. "Believe me, when this is over in a half an hour, you'll be happy. We'll have our baby, Savannah can come see us after school…"

She nodded and grabbed her knees, and Leonard rested a hand against her back. When the contraction started, he began to rub. "You sure this position's comfortable?" he asked. "Would you rather lie like this on the bed?"

"Don't wanna move!" Penny said, her voice sounding like it was coming from deep in her throat.

"Okay, okay," Leonard said soothingly. "Just relax."

Penny let out a breath. "Can you help me take the gown off?"

"Sure," Leonard said. "Do you want your bra back?"

"Never took it off."

"Oh. Okay." Leonard helped her sit up and unbuttoned the gown, tossing it to the side. Now clad in only her black bra and shorts, Penny settled back down on the floor.

"Are you _sure_ you don't want to move to the bed?" Leonard asked.

Penny shook her head wearily. "Can't get up." She could, however, move a bit, and Penny shifted her weight again, sitting up with her hands behind her, supporting her weight. "Where do you want me?" Leonard asked automatically.

"Behind me."

Leonard scooted around and she leaned back so her head was touching his chest, her arms still holding her up. "Penny," Leonard said, "you're not actually going to have the baby on the floor, are you?"

"Shut up, okay?" Penny said, closing her eyes and moaning.

"Aaand we're to this part of the process," he mumbled under his breath, putting his hands comfortingly on her arms.

Penny sat up slightly and took several audible breaths. "Where's the doctor?"

"You want to push?"

She nodded. "Where's the doctor?"

"How's it going, there?" asked the very person Penny was looking for, walking into the room and alertly taking in the situation.

"Doctor!" Leonard called as she walked back into the room, "can you see how far along she is?"

"Sure thing," the doctor said, dropping to the ground next them. "Easy there," she said, putting a hand on Penny's leg when the blonde tensed up again, her breath hitching. "You're just about ready, I'd put money on that," she said, patting Penny's knee until the contraction was over. "Well," she said moments later, "you're at about nine. With a baby this big, you don't want to try getting her out before you're completely at ten, so you'll just have to wait a few more minutes, can you do that?"

Penny shook her head. "No."

"Yes you can, Penny," Leonard said reassuringly. "Yes you can."

"No," Penny said again, her voice coming out high pitched as another contraction hit. She dropped down and rolled back onto her side.

"Pant," Leonard instructed. "Pant, Penny!"

She obeyed him, her hand finding his own and clenching it. "Good," he said. "Just listen to my voice, okay? Listen to my voice. Just a little bit longer, you remember how this goes. Just a few more minutes. Then, with how fast everything else has gone, I imagine it'll only be a couple more minutes until we have her. Not long now, honey."

Penny rolled from her side to her back, and then to her other side, facing Leonard and grabbing both his hands in both of her own, drawing them up to her face and gasping, squeezing his hands tightly as she attempted to keep up her breathing.

Leonard bent down and kissed her forehead. "You're doing perfectly," he told her, still in complete disbelief over the fact that they were having sex just an hour ago. "Perfectly."

"God," Penny said, "doc, just let me have this baby!"

"Soon," the doctor said. "Soon, just wait a little bit longer, we don't want you to tear or waste your energy."

"Leonard."

"I'm right here," he said, taking both her hands. "This is almost over, you hear me? _Almost over._"

"Let me check you one more time," the doctor said, and Penny nodded, grinding her fingers against Leonard's and pulling their hands to her forehead.

"Okay," the doctor told her. "You go ahead whenever you're ready."

"Whenever you're ready" turned into barely ten seconds later when another contraction hit. Penny pushed her upper body up off the floor and closed her eyes, a deep sound coming from her throat. When the contraction ended, she looked at Leonard. "Help me stand."

"Okay," he said scrambling to his feet. "I got you." He helped her get her legs under her, and she was halfway up when her knees bent and she dropped back to the floor, not having enough time between contractions to go anywhere."

"Penny," Leonard said, falling to his knees next to her, "you okay?"

"Mmm hmm," she said. "Can't stand."

"You want help into the bed?" Leonard asked. "Or you wanna have the baby on the floor?"

Penny looked up at the bed, and then her head rolled over to see Leonard. "Can't stand," she repeated.

"Can we get any of that down here?" Leonard asked.

The two nurses in the room removed the mattress from the bed and laid it on the floor next to Penny. "Can you get on this, sweetheart?"

Penny crawled up onto the mattress and Leonard put the pillows the hospital provided, and the ones that he'd brought, under her head and back so she was partially reclined. He'd barely completed when Penny whimpered again and put her hands flat against the mattress. "Good," he told her, brushing some hair away from her eyes. "Good."

"Leonard, I don't like this," Penny said again when the contraction was over.

Leonard took one of her hands. She looked exhausted already, and he hated it. He was completely changing his mind about wanting this to be fast. She didn't have any time to rest. "They're only thirty seconds apart now, Penny, so get ready.

"Make sure you listen to yourself," the doctor said. "do whatever feels effective. It won't be long now, Penny."

In response, Penny made a circling motion with her finger and leaned toward Leonard. He put a hand on her shoulder and the other on her hip and helped roll her onto her side again.

"I don't know why this is the most comfortable right now but…"

"Whatever works," Leonard said.

"Nope," she said a second later, rolling back onto her back and shifting her weight so she was sitting up slightly more. Leonard circled his thumb against her skin.

Her next contraction started right when it should, and she closed her eyes and pushed, her thumb nail digging into Leonard's hand. He winced, but didn't say anything. It wasn't really an appropriate time to complain about a nail induced indent in the skin.

"It's not moving," Penny said when it was over, looking at the doctor.

"Don't worry," the doctor said. "Everything seems to be positioned right, just gotta get started. It's too early to be concerned."

"Contraction," Penny said, right on cue, shifting her weight slightly. Leonard felt the pressure on his hand as she squeezed it, and he automatically started on his ramblings of encouragement. He had to admit he felt a lot more calm this time around; he knew they were only a bit farther away from holding their second child. He hated that this was coming hard and fast, but overall he still felt better this second time, knowing how things progressed, and knowing what was normal.

About halfway through the contraction, Leonard nearly jumped as things suddenly became very _not _normal. In the middle of his third or fourth "you're doing great," Penny let out an agonized sound and fell back against the bed, on her back, her eyes wide and sweat appearing on her forehead as if she'd been completely cool just moment before.

"Penny!" he said. "What's wrong, what happened?"

Penny gasped, trying and failing to speak, her eyes blinking rapidly for a few second before completely stopping. "What?" Leonard asked. "What's wrong?" He felt panic rising and couldn't fight it down. "Penny, what happened?"

Penny sucked in a breath. "Leonard, get help," she managed, seemingly forgetting that there was a doctor in the room, her eyes locking on her boyfriend's. He knew that the panic he saw there wasn't just reflected from his own eyes. Her free hand closed to a fist and then opened again, and she started to shake slightly – he felt her hand begin to tremble – and the next thing he knew more nurses were rushing into the room to accompany the ones that were already there; he supposed he must have been yelling for help right along with the doctor.

"She's in shock," the first new nurse proclaimed.

"She's bleeding," the doctor said from the foot of the bed, where she had sprung to the instant Penny had cried out, and both nurses looked in unison to the monitors, which were beeping at a frequency much different than normal. "We need do surgery, _now!_"

"What happened, what's going on?" Leonard asked, squeezing Penny's hand and looking fearfully down at her. Her chest was moving, but it was moving rapidly, and he knew that her breaths were too shallow.

"She's got a tear in her uterus," said the second nurse. "We need to get the baby out now or we could lose them both."

"_What?_" Leonard screeched, looking at the hospital personnel in horror before turning back to Penny. "Oh God, Penny," he said, putting his face inches from hers. "You need to hang on, okay? People are going to help you, just don't you go anywhere, okay? I'm right here, you need to stay with me, okay? Savannah needs you."

"Sir, we're going to need you to give us some space, we need - "

Leonard wasn't listening to them. He didn't even know that they'd spoken. He clung tightly to Penny's hand, focusing on her face. "Leonard…" she said weakly, her eyes looking terrified, her face white as a sheet. "Leonard, things hurt."

"I know," he said. "I know, sweetheart, just…" tears sprang to his eyes, and he wondered why they hadn't been there before. "Just hang in there." He was torn between being grateful that she was conscious and wishing she wasn't so she wouldn't be in any more pain.

"Sir," said the other nurse. "Time is of the essence, we need you to back up."

Another doctor burst into the room, and the other nurses sprang into action. Leonard let go of Penny's hand, not because he wanted to obey the people telling him to back away from her, but because the rest of him was slipping away.

The last thing he heard before crashing to the floor was Penny shrieking, the doctor shouting, and the loud echo in his head of the nurse's words.

_We could lose them both._


	7. She Had Brown Hair

**Many of you were absolutely begging for the next chapter, so I thought I'd get it up fast, seeing as it was already written!**

**Note before I start, I greatly appreciate 5Mississippis' review to Very Not Normal. I have zero experience in the area that that chapter was on, having never had a baby myself or been in the room for a birth (of a human, at least, my sheep and goat experience is more extensive), and everything I wrote was based on research, either online or from people I know. The assurance from someone who has decades of work experience in that area that both the events and people's actions were realistic enough to satisfy someone with such experience is very much appreciated.**

**As usual, all I own are the characters I've created.**

* * *

Leonard woozily made his way with another nurse – Sally, he thought she said – to the O.R. waiting room and sank down in the nearest chair. His glasses had broken when he fell, and he knew there was a light trickle of blood coming from somewhere on his face, but he wasn't concerned. He didn't give a giant rat's ass about a cut on his face when Penny could be dying.

He pulled out his cell phone and was about to dial Sheldon when he stopped and thought. Sheldon had a meeting this morning, and considering the way he got last time they thought Penny's life was in danger he wasn't likely to be very helpful even if he could handle being told. Leonard hovered over the button a moment longer before deciding it really wasn't the best option, and dialed another number.

"Hey stranger. How's it hanging?"

"Penny's uterus ruptured," Leonard blurted.

Gilda was silent for a moment. "She go into labor, or did it just happen?"

"Labor. We came into the hospital about forty minutes ago. They just took her away."

"Oh my God," Gilda said. "Have you called Sheldon and Amy?"

"Not yet," Leonard said. "Sheldon got so upset when we thought Penny might have cancer, I didn't want to unsettle him."

"Do you need me to come there?" she asked.

"No," Leonard said. "I don't think so."

"If you hear anything," Gilda said, "anything at all, that you need to talk about with someone, you don't hesitate to call me, understood?" Mark doesn't have any meetings today; I can have him pick up Iris and Savannah from school if I need to be at the hospital."

"I think I'd rather be alone," Leonard said. "But thank you for offering."

* * *

Leonard stood up as the doctor who had taken Penny to O.R. entered the room and nodded to him. "Penny, as you know, suffered a tear in her uterus that may have been brought on by the stress of fast labor. In these cases, sometimes we just don't know why it happened. She underwent an emergency C – section to deliver the baby, and then had to have the tear repaired. It's an emergency situation that we don't see often, I myself have been doing this for two decades, and this is only the second one I've had to deal with."

"Could, could I maybe have the Cliffnotes version of this?" Leonard asked anxiously.

"Your daughter was born at 9:41 a.m.," she said. "She is healthy and does not appear to have suffered any ill effects. Her heart rate wasn't quite what we'd like it to be at first, but that can be attributed to stress. Everything is in the normal range now, and she has an APGAR of eight."

"Oh God," Leonard said, putting a hand to his mouth. "That's great…fantastic news. And Penny? What about Penny?"

"Fortunately the tear wasn't the worst it could have been," she told him. "We were able to repair it and Penny is okay. She will be weak for a little while, she lost a lot of blood, but she will live. I know this isn't what you're thinking most about now, but she could even have another child, providing she gives birth by C – section."

"When can I see her?"

"In a little bit," the doctor said. "She's in recovery right now. One of the nurses will let you know."

"Thank you," Leonard said, taking her hand and shaking it. "Thank you for saving them. I'd hug you, but I don't think that's appropriate."

"Save that hug for your family," she said. "Congratulations on your new arrival. You guys are very lucky."

When the doctor left, Leonard collapsed into a chair and put his hands over his face, and jumped when a nurse suddenly spoke to him. "If you feel up to it, you can see her. Your daughter."

"Oh," Leonard said, feeling uncomfortable, "Penny really should see her first."

"If that's what you prefer," the nurse said. "But remember that the father is just as much a parent as the mother is."

Leonard knew Penny would want him to be with their daughter if they couldn't both be, so he stood up shakily, and followed the nurse down to the newborns.

The nurse stopped at one of the babies and reached down, lifting the little one up and handing her to Leonard. He was a bit startled; he'd expected to just look and didn't trust himself completely given the circumstances, but then the little one was in his arms and he never wanted to put her down, especially when her eyes looked up and focused on him. He could see more of himself in her than in Savannah, but Penny was there too, and it was mind blowing to him that this little person could resemble him so much.

He realized he hadn't spoken. "Hey," he said gently, drawing her up closer to him. "Hey, sweetheart."

The baby's mouth changed slightly, and Leonard was almost instantly choked up. "You're smiling, aren't you?"

"She knows who you are," the nurse told him. "Babies can often recognize their mother's voices, and if the fathers talked to them while in utero, they can recognize him, too."

Leonard bit his lip and then continued talking to his daughter, rocking her gently. She continued looking at him as if she felt it was very important to hear what he had to say. He sank down in a chair the nurse, whose name tag said CHLOE, provided, and cuddled her close, feeling the warmth from her body through the blanket, thanking anyone out there that she was alive.

After a while, another nurse entered the ward to tell him that he could see Penny. "We can bring the baby over to you guys in about ten minutes, if you'd like."

"Please," Leonard said, putting her back down and nodding. "And thank you. You saved them."

* * *

When Leonard saw Penny lying in the hospital bed, pale, with a breathing tube under her nose and a heart monitor beeping away next to her, he wasn't sure if he should be relieved or distressed. She was alive, looking more at peace then when he'd last seen her, but at the same time, seeing her like that broke his heart. _It was a big baby, _he thought. _We knew that. How could we be so stupid as to think nothing would go wrong? _Leonard knew the answer. _Because nothing went wrong last time. _ Their paranoia over every little thing – he felt it too, even though he didn't voice it as often so she could have him to worry to – had been completely eradicated with Savannah's uneventful birth after a very eventful pregnancy. This time, uneventful pregnancy and nearly tragic birth. Leonard preferred the former and knew that his girlfriend would, too. Letting out a sigh, Leonard came around to her bedside, dropped down on the chair, and reached out, taking Penny's hand in his and curling his fingers around her own. "Penny?" He said quietly, looking at her closed eyes. He didn't want to wake her if she was sleeping soundly, but if she woke up after such little stimulus, Leonard wouldn't hate it. He needed to see her move, hear her talk.

After a moment her eyes opened, and her head tilted to the side to focus on him. "Hey," she said, her voice lacking substance.

"Hey," Leonard said, giving her a smile. "How do you feel?"

She closed her eyes briefly and then opened them again. "Pretty bad. Sore." Her eyebrows furrowed slightly. "What happened?" She blinked, her eyes showing sudden alarm. "I'm not pregnant," she said. Her eyes widened and she looked up at Leonard, and in the background he heard the heart rate increase ever so slightly. "Leonard, what happened?"

"Shhh, it's okay," Leonard said, using his free hand to touch her face. "You don't remember anything?"

Her head moved weakly from side to side. "No." Her breathing became more noticeable. "Leonard, _what happened?_" Tears escaped her eyes.

"Hey," he said, squeezing her hand and smiling for reassurance. "Calm down." He drew her hand to his lips and kissed it. "You went into labor. Your uterus ruptured during a contraction, and our daughter was delivered via emergency C – section. Then you were in surgery to repair the tear."

Her eyes widened. "What?"

He nodded. "But everything is okay now, all right? She's fine, I've seen her, and they're going to bring her to us in a minute. _She's fine_. "

Penny's free hand went to her stomach, and her breath caught. "It's a girl?"

Leonard smiled. "Yes. A beautiful little girl. And if I do say so myself…she looks like me."

"And she's okay?" Penny asked, the tears still coming.

"_Yes_," Leonard said. "She's okay. You're both okay." He looked at her for another moment and then swallowed hard. "I thought…" he removed a hand from hers and pushed his thumb and pointer finger into the inner corners of his eyes. He returned the hand to Penny's and his own. "I thought I was going to lose you both." He hated tearing up in front of her; she'd been through more than enough, but the relief he felt at the moment was too much for him to keep locked up. "God, I was so afraid." He looked into her eyes. "You know how much I love you, right?"

She nodded, a small smile coming over her face. "I have some idea. Because I think I love you about the same."

He smiled and squeezed her hand.

"So what happens now?" she asked.

"You have to stay here a couple of days," he said. "But then we'll go home. You'll have to take it easy, but we'll all be at home, the four of us. Okay?"

She smiled at him, her eyes still wet. "I can't wait."

Leonard leaned over, still holding both her hands, and kissed her tenderly on the lips. She freed one of her hands to place along the side of his face, and when their lips broke apart, Penny lifted her head slightly to rub noses with him before settling back against the pillow.

Leonard, still seeming more distressed than Penny, wiped his eyes again and then held her hands tightly. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," she said, giving him a smile.

"Hello hello," came a sing – song. Leonard and Penny looked up to see an older female nurse walking into the room holding something in a blanket. "Someone wants to see her Mommy and Daddy."

"Oh!" Penny said, attempting to sit up. Leonard glanced to his right to make sure she was okay, then his eyes trained back on what the nurse was holding.

"Here you go, Mom," she said, handing the little girl to Penny. "She's clean and healthy. We fed her a few minutes ago, but next time she's ready, you can nurse if you'd like.

"Oh, thank you," Penny said as she received the baby, tears springing to her eyes as she pulled her second daughter against her chest and cuddled her. "Hi!" she said, giving a little laugh of relief. "Hi…" she trailed off, looking up at Leonard.

"We'll figure out a name," Leonard said. "That's not the most important thing right now.

"No, it's not," Penny said, biting her lip as she looked down at their second daughter. "Just that she's here, and she's…and she's okay."

"Hmmmm," Penny said fondly, tracing the newborn's face. The baby opened her eyes and locked on to Penny. "Hi, baby girl," she said, her eyes supplying her with fresh tears that threatened to leak. "I'm your mommy, and I love you so, so very much." She looked at Leonard. "Do you want to hold her?"

"You just got her," Leonard said. "I've seen her already."

"I know, but…" Penny smiled at him. "I like watching you hold our babies."

"Well then, you don't have to tell me again," he said eagerly, taking the baby from Penny's arms and cuddling her. She may have been a big baby, but each time he held her she just looked tiny. A tiny, fragile little life in his arms. His second daughter. And she had brown hair. He couldn't get over her having brown hair. "I love you," he said to her, enunciating as clearly as he could, his voice so full of emotion that it almost brought Penny to tears again.

Penny was watching them, smiling, and then she slowly started shaking her head. "I can't believe everything went wrong this morning."

"Not everything," Leonard said. "I mean, I'm glad you don't remember – for a couple of reasons – but if everything went wrong, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now. I wouldn't be holding our daughter right now. I'd be crumpled over in the O.R. waiting room, and they'd be sending Gilda and Sheldon to come get me and take me home because I'd be incapable of moving on my own. As terrible as this is, we're lucky."

Penny smiled at that. "That we are." She looked longingly at the bundle in Leonard's arms, and he noted the expression and handed her back. Penny cuddled the baby close.

* * *

"Daddy!" Savannah yelled, running up to Leonard and giving him a hug.

"Hey, Savvy," Leonard said, picking her up. "How's my biggest girl?"

"She's fantastic," Howard said. "She was right on time after school."

"Very good," Leonard said, smiling at who was now his oldest. "Thanks for getting her."

"No problem," Howard said. "It's better than Gilda bringing both the girls here."

"Can I see mommy and my sister?" Savannah asked.

"Yes you can," Leonard said. "Right this way."

"I'll be waiting out here," Howard said. "Just let me know when I can come in."

"Thanks, Howard," Leonard said, smiling over his shoulder at the engineer and he carried Savannah down the hall. "Okay, baby girl," he said, setting her down. "Mommy's tummy hurts right now, so don't jump at her, okay? You have to be very gentle with her and your baby sister - the baby is only seven hours old."

"I can be gentle," Savannah said. "I am gentle with Olivia's bunny rabbit."

"I know you are," Leonard said, taking her hand and leading her the rest of the way. "Surprise, Mommy," he said as they entered the room.

Penny, who was nursing the baby, looked at Savannah and gave the four year old a big smile. "Hi there, sweetums!"

"Mommy!" Savannah said, heeding Leonard's warning and walking calmly over to the bed – one of the first times her parents could remember her _walking _anywhere. She stood on her tip toes and looked at her sleeping sister. "What's her name?"

"We're working on that," Penny said, looking down at Savannah's sister.

Savannah jumped on the chair. "Eat up, sister," she told the baby. "You need to get big and strong so we can play."

Leonard came around to the same side of the bed Savannah was on and bent down, kissing Penny's forehead. Penny smiled at him. "This is the best part, you know," she said, referencing the baby nursing. "I just feel so close."

"You deserve it," he said quietly, and then turned to his oldest and smiled, giving her a hug. "Do you like your new sister?"

Savannah nodded. "She's so small!"

"You know what?" Penny said. "You were even smaller."

Savannah's jaw was hanging so dramatically in response that both her parents couldn't help but laugh.


	8. Something Penny Hofstadter

**New chapter time! This one was completely written this morning. **

Leonard thought that Savannah might fall asleep in the car on the way home from the hospital, since she'd spent the parts of the afternoon she wasn't with her mother and sister playing with the toys in the pediatric section. With all the stimulation she'd had that day, Leonard hoped the four year old would be ready for bed by the time they got home and climbed five flights of stairs.

He underestimated her energy. "Can we go outside?" She asked as soon as they got into the apartment and he suggested she put on her pajamas.

"It's dark, you saw when we pulled in," Leonard said, hanging his jacket up.

Savannah pouted. "Play catch?"

"Not indoors, Savvy," Leonard said.

"Is Mommy going to be okay?"

The sudden change in topic caught Leonard off guard. "Mommy's going to be fine, sweetheart."

Suddenly solemn, the girl dropped down on the floor and pulled at one of her socks.

"Savannah," Leonard said, sitting down next to her. "Mommy's absolutely fine. Having a baby is a lot of work, you know, that's why they only let Mommies do it."

Savannah didn't say anything, she just leaned to the side against her father, and he put his arm around her and hugged her tight. "Do you want me to tell you a story before you go to bed?"

She nodded. "Then go get in your pajamas and I'll be in in a minute."

"Can you tell the one about Uncle Sheldon in the ball pit?" she asked.

Leonard smiled. "Aren't you tired of hearing that one?" he teased, tickling her.

She giggled. "No."

"Then go put on your PJs and I'll see how much of that one I can remember. You might have to help me if I forget any parts, okay?"

She smiled. "Okay."

* * *

After the following day included introducing Savannah's sister to Howard, Bernadette, Gilda, Iris, Mark, Sheldon, Amy, and Raj without being able to tell them what to call her, Leonard and Penny decided to take action on finding their daughter a name before they made a spur of the moment decision just to get something on the birth certificate and allow her to be released to go home. They weren't too confidant in their ability to come up with a name so quickly, especially when they hadn't been able to decide before. Fortunately, they had some help.

"All right!" Gilda said enthusiastically, setting her board up on the stand to the left of Penny's bed. "Let's name the baby!" Here," she said, pointing to the written names _Helen, Hannah, Heloise, Holly, Polly, Paula, _and _Patricia, _"are the names you don't want for alliterative purposes." Below the names, Gilda had a blank line, and then _Penny Hofstadter_. Penny swallowed at the end part of the baby's name. This daughter would be Penny Hofstadter, and she still would not. "Leonard, are you sure about naming her after me?"

"If it was a boy, we were going to go with Leonard as a middle name," he reminded her. "So for a girl, Penny should be the middle name."

"Hey hey!" Gilda said, clapping her hands together, the marker in her right hand clicking against the wedding ring on her left, "we're not arguing about middle names. We're here to give the little girl in her mother's arms a first name. Suggestions?" She tapped the board with the end of the marker. "If we don't come up with one soon, she'll be leaving the hospital legally named Something Penny Hofstadter"

"I like the name Chloe," Penny said.

"We are not naming our child after a Kardashian," Leonard said.

"I meant Chloe with a C," Penny said.

"Chloe Penny," Gilda said. "To many long E sounds."

"Okay," Penny said. "Maybe something that goes with Savannah, like Sierra or Cheyenne."

"I like Cheyenne," Leonard said. "It kinda has a wild sound to it, like Savannah."

"Oh wait," Penny said. "Do we want their names sounding the same at the start? Isn't that kind corny?"

"I don't know," Leonard said. "Maybe."

"It depends on your preferences, really," Gilda said.

"What are you, Baby Name God?" Penny asked jokingly.

"Baby Name God has a point," Leonard said. "If you thought it sounded corny, then you'll probably always think that. We have to pick something we have no reservations about."

"Now we're talking," Gilda said, pointing at Leonard with her marker. She wrote _Sierra _and _Cheyenne _on the board and crossed them out, as well as the previously written names.

"What about Georgia?" Leonard asked after a minute of pondering. "I've always liked that name for a girl."

"I like it!" Penny said. "Our daughters, Savannah and Georgia."

"Oh," Leonard said. "Wait, no, we can't."

Penny gave him an odd look and then got it. "Back to the drawing board."

Gilda squealed at the phrase.

"What about Ada?" Leonard suggested. "Ada Lovelace developed the idea of an operating system, which would fit with us comparing our new relationship with software, plus it kinda has that wild vibe to it, so it would go with Savannah."

"Would it go with Penny as a middle name, though?" Gilda asked.

"What if we made it _Nev_ada?" Penny asked. "Nevada Penny Hofstadter. We could call her Ada."

"Nevada?" Gilda asked. "Like the state?"

"Iris like the flower?"

"Savannah like the grassland?"

"Iris like the part of your eye?" Leonard added, folding his arms.

"Leakey like a ten year old who still wets the bed?"

"It's not...spelled the same."

"Aw," Penny said sympathetically, smiling at her boyfriend.

"Look at her take your side," Gilda said.

"Don't worry Gilda, I'm just doing it so he'll agree with my name," Penny said, giving a dramatic wink.

"I love that name," Leonard said, sitting down on the bed next to her. "What do you think, baby girl? Are you Ada?"

The baby blinked up at him.

"Nevada Penny Hofstadter?" Penny asked, looking down at her daughter. The baby sucked her thumb.

"I think she likes it," Gilda said, coming over to the bed and leaning over the baby. "Whose name is Nevada? Yours! Who's going to get beaten up in school? You!"

Leonard stood up and guided Gilda away by the shoulders. "Go erase the board before the marker sinks in and won't come out like the other one." He walked back to the bed and sat back down, one arm behind Penny, the other resting on his daughter's blanket. "Ada," he said aloud, turning his head slightly to see Penny. She smiled at him. "Ada," she said. "I like it."

Leonard looked up at Gilda's board, where, at the bottom, it now said "Nev(ada) Penny Hofstadter." "That's you," he said gently to the baby. "You have a name."

"And you won't get beaten up in school," Penny said, rocking Ada gently. "People are more tolerant of names now than they were when Leonard Leakey came on the scene."

Leonard nodded down at her. "And we won't make you play cello, either."


	9. The Girls' Room

**Haven't updated in a few days, (I think) but I'm on spring break now, so just posting this before I'm off to bed!**

"Welcome home," Leonard said lamely, holding his arm out to present the apartment.

"Hmm," Penny said, smiling, turning to him and planting a kiss on his cheek. "Now give me Ada."

"Penny, they said…"

"They said not to carry the baby upstairs in case I feel faint." Penny held out her arms. "We're already up the stairs."

"Hmmm, okay," Leonard said, transferring Ada to Penny's arms. "Welcome home, baby girl," Penny said, turning in a circle. "I think she's tired," she told Leonard. "I'm going to put her down."

"She need to be fed?" Leonard asked, putting the key in the bowl.

"No," Penny said. "She's sleepy. I'll feed her when she gets up." Penny disappeared from sight, down the hall to the girls' room.

_The girls' room._ Leonard smiled as he grabbed two waters from the fridge and settled down on the couch. Every once in a while he thought about how he was glad that they'd kept the couch from Penny's apartment. Something about it just felt so homey to him…

Leonard's thoughts were interrupted by Penny coming back into the room. "She asleep already?"

"I've been in there nearly ten minutes," Penny told him, gesturing to the oven clock. "She was asleep by the time I got her to the crib, but I wanted to watch her for a few minutes," she said, taking the water he offered as she sat down next to him. Instead of opening the water, she leaned back against the couch and tipped her head back, closing her eyes.

"Hey," Leonard said, putting a hand over hers. "You okay?"

She nodded, with her eyes still closed. "I'm just exhausted. And glad to be home." She opened her eyes and tipped her head to the side and gave a small smile. "Rough week. You know. I guess I'm still just a little out of it. A hospital visit can do that to you, you know."

"Yeah," Leonard said, closing his fingers around her hand and squeezing it. "But it's okay now. Everything's okay now."

She smiled a bit more and blinked. "I know."

* * *

Penny sat straight up in the bed, her hands going out to brace herself, keep herself upright, but they lost traction on the sheets and she fell back against the pillow. She reacted, groaning in frustration, in desperation, and sitting back up again on pure adrenaline, gasping, suddenly feeling the chill from the sweat on her skin.

"Penny?" Leonard was sitting up too, reaching out a hand, and when he touched her on the back, she flinched slightly, then instantly felt guilty about it and tears sprang to her eyes.

"Penny!" Leonard said, scooting closer and putting a hand on each shoulder, rubbing them. "What's wrong?"

Penny stared at her knees, covered in the blanket, forcing her breathing to slow down. She could feel her heart beating in about a half dozen places throughout her body, her stitches hurt, and she still felt like she couldn't get enough air. Closing her eyes, remembering how she'd dealt with panic attacks related to her first pregnancy, she leaned back slightly, into Leonard's massage, and let out a long, low breath.

"Penny," he said again. "What's wrong?"

She stopped, thought, and then opened her eyes and looked over at him, shaking her head slightly. "I don't know."

"You weren't dreaming?"

Penny thought again. "I…I don't think so. I woke up…and…I just felt…" she shook her head. "Scared. And alone, and…" she bit her lip and shook her head. "I don't know."

"You're not alone," Leonard said. "You're here. With me. There's no reason to be afraid."

She struggled to regulate her breathing, finally feeling herself come down from her panic stricken state and start to relax. "I know," she said, managing a smile. "I don't know what that was about. I'm fine now." She got up. "I'm going to check on the girls."

Penny shakily walked to the other bedroom and peered inside. Savannah wasn't in her bed, and for a second Penny's heart jumped into her throat, memories of Iris going missing rushing to the front of her memories. Then, she saw her oldest daughter, curled up with her blanket, at the foot of her little sister's crib, her arm wrapped around one of the legs as if to keep it close to her.

"Penny," Leonard said from behind her, sliding his arm around her shoulders. "Ada will probably wake up in an hour or so to be fed. Why don't we try to get some sleep before then? You still don't have all your strength back."

She nodded, looking at him. "Okay." She noticed him smiling at the sight of their children, and she smiled too. "They're little angels, aren't they?"

"They really are," he said. "We've got two smart and beautiful babies, Penny." He turned slightly so he could hug her. "And we still have you, too."

"Aww," Penny said, returning the hug. "Alright," she said when it ended, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Let's go to bed."

"Okay," he said smiling and leading her back to the bed. They crawled in and he settled on his back. "Penny," Leonard said gently when she rolled on her side away from him. "What are you doing? Come sleep by me?"

Penny looked over her shoulder at Leonard for a moment, and then carefully rolled to her other side, keeping a hand on her stomach to reassure herself that the stitches were holding. Leonard slid his hands under the blankets to find her own, and they touched noses. She let out a shaky sigh. "I'm so sorry, Penny," Leonard said, letting go of one of her hands to run his own up her arm, and then found her hand again. "Whatever was bothering you, I promise it's going to be okay."

"I know," she said, nodding. "I don't know what happened. But it's okay now."

Penny hoped that she sounded convincing. She wasn't fine. She was terrified, and she had no idea why. She focused on Leonard's breathing, his hands curled around hers, and their knees touching, and finally managed to nod back off to sleep.

Less than five minutes before Ada's cries woke her up.

Sighing, she crawled out of bed, hoping Leonard wouldn't wake up. She didn't have to go back to work for a while, but Leonard did in the morning. Luckily, while he moved around a bit when she got out of bed, he didn't fully awaken.

Penny returned to the girl's room and found Savannah sitting up sleepily. "Go to your bed, sweetie," Penny said. "Your sister's just hungry."

"Okay," Savannah said, sleepily walking toward her bed. She didn't quite make it, laying down and pulling her blanket around her a few feet shy. Penny rolled her eyes in amusement and drew Ada out of the crib. "Shhh," Penny said. "Mommy's here. Don't wake Daddy and Big Sister."

Ada quieted down slightly with her mother's rocking, and Penny drew the chair over so she could sit down to nurse. With Ada feeding hungrily, Penny tried to think about what it was that had caused her to wake up. She couldn't think of anything, but as she cuddled her baby close, she hoped Ada was very hungry. She didn't want to fell asleep again and give herself to whatever was hiding in her subconscious.


	10. Flashback

**So sorry I've been a fail at updating, but I hope to have this updated again by Sunday, and my other two fics will more than likely be updated by Monday night.**

**I still don't own anything but Savannah and Ada.**

Penny knew that there were some women who were greatly intimidated at the thought of nursing their children. Others refused to actually have the baby at their breast, and fed on formula, or pumped, and Penny didn't really understand. For her, nursing was a way of relieving stress, or clearing her mind, or just plain relaxing. It was just her and her baby, and that was all that mattered for a few minutes. The Penny of several years ago would have been worried about the nursing lowering the aesthetic value of her breasts, but upon giving birth to Savannah four years ago, her maternal instinct had been awakened and she no longer cared. She adored these minutes of closeness with Ada that she hadn't had in almost three years – Savannah had self – weaned at fourteen months – and anyway, Leonard loved her no matter what.

Now, Penny was curled up on the couch, her head resting on the arm, her own arms holding her daughter in place. Her eyes were only half open, and she couldn't remember what song she'd been humming when she'd taken the fussing Nevada out of the crib. It didn't really matter; Ada was very content at the moment, and Penny was taking advantage of the contentedness by allowing herself to feel the same way.

She'd woken with a start again the previous night after two days of nothing, and thankfully this time Leonard didn't awaken with her. He already woke up every time Ada cried; she didn't need him worrying about her, too. So she lied, and she told him that her night scare was a one time thing.

Ada finished nursing and Penny sat up and kissed her youngest on the forehead. "What a good girl you are, Ada," Penny told her, rubbing her nose against the baby's. "Will you burp for Mommy?"

Penny's phone chirped, and she picked it up off the pilot and looked at the screen. She smiled. "Hey, Bernadette!"

"How are you feeling?"

"Tired," Penny admitted. "So tired. But I get to spend the day with Ada, so it's not all bad."

"That's good," Bernadette said. "So Amy and I were wondering if you'd like to go out somewhere tomorrow. Grab lunch."

"I can't leave Ada here by herself," Penny said.

"You can bring her."

Penny hesitated. She couldn't imagine having enough energy to get down the stairs, much less actually go out somewhere. "Why don't you come here?" she asked. "Both of you. I'm still not feeling up to going somewhere, but I'd like to see you guys."

"Sure," Bernadette said. "Is noon okay?"

"Sounds good to me," Penny said, smiling as Ada burped. "I'll see you then."

Penny carried Ada back into the girls' room and settled her down in the crib. The baby squirmed and looked up at her mother. "Sweet baby," Penny said, putting her hand down for Ada to grab. "Nevada Penny Hofstadter," she said aloud, enjoying the sound of her daughter's name. After a few moments, her smile faded, as it always did when she thought of her youngest's full name.

* * *

Savannah followed her mother back to the master bedroom after Ada's one o' clock feeding. "Mommy, I can't sleep."

"Shhh," Penny said, motioning to Leonard, who was sleeping soundly. "Don't wake Daddy, he has work tomorrow."

"But I can't sleep," she said, dropping her voice to a whisper.

"Okay," Penny said, taking her hand. "Let's go to bed in here, okay?"

Savannah nodded. "Okay."

Penny crawled into bed and scooted toward the middle, closer to Leonard. Savannah hauled herself up next to her mother, and Penny curled her arms around the girl. "There we go," she said, kissing Savannah's forehead. "Try to sleep, baby girl."

"Love you," Savannah murmured sleepily, cuddling against her mother.

"I love you too," Penny said, rubbing the four year old's back. "I love you very much."

Penny felt Savannah drifting off to sleep, and the steady, easy breathing of the people on either side of her made Penny relax, too. Her eyelids dropped and she felt herself nodding off into the kind of sleep she hadn't had in what seemed like forever.

Then, Savannah jerked in her sleep, her knee coming up and unconsciously hitting her mother square in the stitches. Penny reacted, jerking away from the impact and shaking the bed slightly. A sharp pain shot through her, temporarily paralyzing Penny with the shock and bringing tears to her eyes, and even before it subsided, everything came rushing back.

Leonard had awoken when she recoiled from Savannah's knee, and he looked over his shoulder at her. "Penny? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Penny said, not looking at him. "Savannah couldn't sleep. She's with us."

Leonard sat up and looked over Penny to see their little blonde girl curled up contentedly. "Aw," he said, putting a hand on Penny's shoulder. "She looks so happy."

Penny felt she had blinked enough to hide her tears in the darkness, so she looked over at Leonard. "Yeah. She just needed to be farther from the crib." She smiled at him. "Go back to sleep, honey, we're fine."

"Okay," Leonard said, bending down and kissing her jawline. "You're sure everything's okay?"

"Absolutely," Penny said, and Leonard believed her.

When she felt his breathing coming steadily and knew he had fallen back to sleep, Penny put her hands over her face and let out a heavy breath. Knowing where her night terrors were coming from didn't make them any less real.

Because they were real.

They were flashbacks.


	11. Cattle Drive

**This chapter doesn't do much but set up some stuff that will happen later. And it's probably not going to be clear what is setting up what, so don't worry about figuring it out. Just enjoy what I hope is cuteness!**

**And I still own nothing but the characters I've created.**

"So my teacher told us a story today," Savannah said. "It was really funny."

"Oh yeah?" Penny took another dish out of the sink and rinsed it off, handing it then to Savannah, who was standing next to her on a chair.

The girl took the dish, dried it, and set it on the counter with the others. "Yeah. She said that when she was at Daddy's work, they flushed all the toilets at the same time and flooded all the bathrooms down the stairs."

"Really!" Penny said, handing her another dish. "That's really funny."

"One, two, three, FLUSH!" Savannah yelled, nearly dropping the plate she was drying.

"Careful," Penny warned her. "And remember, Savvy, there are other colleges other than where Daddy works. I don't think your teacher went to CalTech."

"She _said _college," Savannah said.

"I'm sure she did," Penny assured her. "But remember when we had the talk about how not everything with wheels is a car? There's also trucks, and vans, and tractors…"

"And amboolances!"

"Yes," Penny said, "and ambulances. Savannah!" The girl jumped and realized her mother had been holding a plate out to her. "So just like there are many different things with wheels, there are many different colleges. Your daddy works at one, but every time someone says 'college' they aren't always talking about Daddy's."

Savannah thought about that for a moment. "Oh. Mommy?"

"Yes?"

"Did you ever do the toilet thing in school?"

"No, actually, I never did," Penny said. "You know what we did a couple times in high school, though?"

"What?"

"We did this prank called 'Cattle Drive'. Have you ever heard of that one? Maybe grandpa told you?"

She shook her head. "No."

"Well," Penny said, "when we'd come into class and see we had a substitute teacher that day,"

"Like Mrs. Abbott?"

"Exactly like Mrs. Abbott," Penny said. "Someone in class would say to us 'hey everyone, cattle drive, eleven thirty.' Then, at eleven thirty exactly, that same person would jump up, put his or her hands to her mouth, like this," Penny cupped her hands around her mouth, "and yell, _cattle drive!_"

Savannah giggled.

"And _then_," Penny said, "we all would stand up, pick up our desks, and shuffle forward, going _moooooo_, and pin the teacher in a corner."

Savannah shrieked in laughter. The chair wobbled, and Penny reached out in case it overturned. It didn't. "Mommy!" Savannah giggled. "You were so bad!"

"Santa Claus almost didn't come that year," Penny said, and Savannah's eyes widened. "I made it up to him by walking my mom's dog every day."

Savannah nodded. "That was a good idea."

Penny smiled. "Well, thank you for helping me with the dishes, missy," she said, picking her daughter up off the chair and hugging her.

"You're welcome, Mommy," Savannah said, curling her arms around her mother's neck.

Penny carried Savannah over to the couch and then playfully tossed her onto it. Savannah giggled. "Hey!"

"Sorry," Penny said, shrugging. "If I carried you any more, my tummy might hurt. I did have your little sis just two weeks ago, you know."

"I know," Savannah said. "She still can't play, Mommy."

"She's just a baby," Penny said, dropping down next to the girl. "She'll be able to play once she can crawl around. That won't be for a few months."

"That sucks."

Penny raised an eyebrow.

"That stinks."

"Better."

The door opened, and Raj and his dog came in, Raj pushing a stroller. "Hello! We're back!"

Penny went over to Raj. The dog went over to Savannah. "Hey there, beautiful," she said, putting her hands on her knees and looking into the stroller. She smiled up at Raj. "Did she enjoy her walk?"

"Very much so," Raj said. "She was very curious. And I must say, having to carry the stroller and up and down these stairs really does a lot for my upper body strength."

"Oh, I know right, I've got these fantastic triceps going on," Penny said, running her hands along the opposing upper arm. She bent down and unbuckled the stroller, pulling Ada out and cuddling her. "Hi, baby."

"Mommy," Savannah said. She was kneeling on the ground, rubbing the dog's stomach. "I want a puppy."

"We'll talk," Penny said, motioning toward the door. "The dog has to go home now." Penny leaned over and kissed Raj on the cheek. "Thanks for taking her out!"

"I'm glad to!" he said. "I want to be this one's favorite uncle since Sheldon got the honors with Savvy."

Savannah stood up straight and put her arms behind her back. "I love each and every one of my uncles the same."

"Spoken like a diplomat," Raj said, picking up his dog. "We'll see you tomorrow?"

"Most likely!" Penny said cheerfully, swaying as Ada started to fuss. "You hungry, sweetie?" She asked as she carried the baby over to the couch. "Savannah, can you hold her, please?"

Savannah jumped onto the couch next to them and took Ada, holding her in her lap, her fingertips pushed together in front of Ada's head. "She won't fall this way, Mommy."

"See that she doesn't," Penny said, undoing the buttons on her shirt. "You're keeping her very safe like that."

"I love Nevada, Mommy."

"I love Nevada too, Savannah."

"Do you love me or her more?"

"Give her to me," Penny said, lifting the baby off of Savannah's lap and taking her to her chest. "I love both of my children the same."

Savannah blew a raspberry.

Penny raised her eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"Nothing."

"Your sister is sassy," Penny told Ada. The baby didn't seem to care.

"No, I'm Savvy," Savannah protested.

Penny nodded. "That's what I said."


	12. Other People and Modern Medicine

**New chapter time! Getting these updates up in a more timely fashion. This one is a little longer, as most of the emotional ones are. I'd say we're getting into the middle part of the fic now, or at least, the second of three storylines for Leonard and Penny.**

"Leonard," Penny said, "is it my day or Gilda's?"

"To take the girls to school?" Leonard asked. "It's Gilda's. She's off today."

"Okay," Penny said sleepily. Noticing that Leonard was dressed, she sat up. "What time is it?"

"Seven. Ada was quiet, so I figured I'd let you sleep a little longer."

"Oh," she said, nodding and curling back up on her side. "Okay."

"But when you're up," Leonard said. "You and me are going out."

She rolled over onto her back and looked up at him, squinting. "Huh?"

"We're going to lunch. I took the day off. Gilda's going to watch Ada and try and use her to convince Mark that Iris needs a sister."

"Leonard," Penny said, sitting up again, "I'm tired. I don't feel like going anywhere."

"Hey," Leonard said, sitting down beside her. "You've barely left the apartment since we got back from the hospital. You need to get out and get some fresh air." He pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and tilted his head to see her better. "Hey, we haven't gotten to spend time together since Ada was born. Today we have a chance; let's take it."

From the other room came a wailing sound, followed by Savannah yelling "Mommy! Ada wants milk!"

Penny sighed and pressed her fingers to her temples, closing her eyes. "Coming!" She slid out of bed, touching Leonard's knee as she did so. "Okay," she said quietly to him as she headed for the other room.

* * *

The last thing Penny had wanted to do was dress up, but Leonard assured her that she didn't need to. "We're not going anywhere fancy, I promise." He took her by the hand and led her down to the car, glad that she was walking next to him and not falling behind. She was, however, too quiet for his liking, and he tried to cheer her up by turning the music to a country station. The biggest reaction that got out of her was a slight bobbing of the head. Leonard looked at the artists name on the display. _Shania Twain_ was a name he knew, thanks to her, so it was easy to commit to his memory for future reference.

"So," Leonard said, pulling up to a seafood restaurant. "Here we are. Nice and casual."

Penny nodded. "You took me here after Savannah was born. When I got that weird post pregnancy craving."

Leonard smiled, glad to have her responding to him. "I did."

They went inside. Leonard was glad that they got a seat by an open window, but he frowned when Penny only ordered an appetizer. "You not hungry?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Not really. I might be stealing some of your fries, though."

"Of course," he said, reaching across the table and squeezing her hand. She smiled.

"So I was thinking," Leonard said, "I've got quite a bit of money saved up, and you know I was going to use some of it on those life sized _Star Wars_ statues, but now that we have Ada, and Savannah's going to be in Kindergarten next year…"

Penny cocked her head. "Yeah?"

"So I was thinking," Leonard said, "maybe we should think about finding a house."

Penny raised her eyebrows. "A house?"

"Yeah," Leonard said. "Apartments are great, but they always feel at least a little bit temporary. A house would be something we would have for as long as we wanted. It'd be ours, you know? Plus, Savvy wants a dog, and…"

"She told you about that, huh?" Penny said, smiling a little bit.

"Yeah. And we could do that if we had a house."

"Leonard," Penny said putting a hand over her eyes, "I don't really have the energy for all that right now."

"It doesn't have to be this moment," Leonard said. "Just something I think we should discuss."

"What about getting married?" Penny said. "Isn't that our logical next step?"

Leonard looked a little surprised. "Well, we decided to have kids before getting married because we weren't getting any younger. And now _they're_ not getting any younger."

"Do you want to marry me, Leonard?" Penny asked, feeling suddenly angry.

Leonard looked at her in confusion. "Of course. I love you."

"Well," Penny started, but the waiter showed up with their food, so she put on a smile and thanked him before continuing, "why do we always put it off, then? Why is there always something else that comes first?"

Leonard hesitated before speaking again. "Are you mad?"

His question seemed to surprise her, and she stopped, thinking. "No," she finally said. "No, I'm not mad, at least I don't _think_ I am…I'm just confused. Is there some sort of reason why we never put out the effort to marry?"

"It's not like we haven't done anything," Leonard said. "We've been building our family, Penny." He shook his head. "I-I never realized you were unhappy."

"I'm not," Penny said, taking his hand back. "I'm not. God, Leonard, I love you, but…" she inhaled. "Bernadette's told me about how she'll smell what she thinks is eggs. She won't pay it any mind because she thinks it's eggs. But then it's not eggs at all. It's sulfur. Sulfur smells like eggs," she added.

Leonard nodded. "I got it."

"So at…at face value, we think we haven't gotten married because of my dad getting sick, and Iris wandering off, and getting pregnant with Ada, but…what if there's another reason we never considered? What if we haven't figured out what the sulfur is yet?" She barely held his gaze for a second before dropping her eyes and letting out a sigh. "I can't figure it out. I'm so tired, Leonard."

"I know," he said comfortingly, squeezing her hand and leaning over to put his other hand on top. "Savannah was better at sleeping than Ada is."

She nodded. "Ugh. I'm not going to be able to sleep until I'm dead." She pulled back and leaned into the booth, sighing. "Leonard, I can't do anything. I'm tired, I'm worrying about our relationship…" she sighed. "Just take me home. I'm only ruining your day."

"You can't ruin my day," Leonard said firmly. "Penny, look at me." She opened her eyes. "Have you considered that you may have post-partum depression?"

She blinked. "I didn't when Savannah was born."

"This isn't like when Savannah was born though, is it?" Leonard asked. "You're always tired, you have some good days, but then you get irritable and lose your appetite. I think it's worth talking to someone about."

"Look, honey," he said, "you might not remember it, but you had a rough delivery. It was taxing on you physically, and now you have to recover while taking care of two kids, and the country's maternity leave laws mean I haven't been able to be home with you as much as I'd like."

"I remember."

Leonard cocked his head. "Remember what?"

Penny sighed. "I remember when Ada was born. When my uterus ruptured. I was on the floor. I wanted to get in the bed, but I couldn't stand. She was in a hurry. Then I…I felt it happen, and you were begging me to stay conscious and I was doing everything I could to not black out but it hurt so bad and then the doctors and nurses were yelling and you were gone and they were taking me to the O.R. and then…" she shook her head, and when she spoke again, her voice cracked, and Leonard became suddenly aware of how hard she was trying not to cry. "It all came rushing back to me," she said, "when I'd sleep."

"Is…is this what makes you wake up in a panic?" Leonard asked gently.

She nodded. "Uh – huh," she whimpered, taking in a quick, deep breath. "My body couldn't adjust to the fast labor, Leonard," she said. "It was my job to take care of Ada for nine months and then bring her into the world, and if not for a half dozen other people and modern medicine…" Penny's hands started to shake, "she wouldn't be here. I failed her, Leonard. I failed her and you and Savannah and the doctors picked up the slack and saved her life, and kept me here for you and the girls."

The waiter walked by just then, and Leonard reached out and pushed a handful of bills into his hand. "That's for our food. Keep the change," he said, standing up and pulling Penny out of the booth and outside. He sat them down on the bench and pulled her close, holding her head against his shoulder. She was sobbing freely now, her whole body wracking, and he held her as closely as he could, rocking gently. "Penny, Penny," he said. "It's okay. No one blames you. You didn't fail anyone."

"You're just saying that," she said. On a normal day, Leonard would have briefly considered that she was just fishing for compliments, but not today. Today she was completely, wholeheartedly convinced that he _was_ just saying that, and that hurt him more than that one date he'd had just after he and Penny had broken up that had a hundred different ways to hit him in the balls.

"No, I'm not," he said, thinking momentarily of another time, more than a decade ago, when she first cried on his shoulder and he assured her that she was perfect. There was so much more weight behind her tears now, so much more history between the two of them, and his word choice was different, but his opinion of Penny hadn't changed in the slightest. He had different reasons now, but he still believed that she _was_ perfect. She had her flaws, but they made her three dimensional, a real, relatable person that he could love as he did. "You did _not_ fail me. You couldn't. You're Wonder Woman, you hear me? You're the mother of our two little girls. The circumstances surrounding their births do not change that." He moved his hand to her cheek, tracing it, wiping tears from around her eyes with his thumb. "Let's go in and talk to the doctor, okay? Let's find a way to get you through this."

He felt her nod. "We can't tell the girls, okay?" she asked. "I don't want them to know about this."

"They won't know," Leonard said, rubbing her back. "I promise you. This is just going to be you and me."

Penny managed to crack a smile. "Who ever said a couple with kids never got time to themselves?"

Leonard gave a crooked smile, and then put his hands on her face and kissed her. "I love you, Penny," he said, holding eye contact and keeping his hands where they were. "Just remember that, okay?"

She nodded, putting her hands on his knee. "I know," she said quietly. "Leonard, I just want to feel normal again."

"You will," he told her. "You will. I promise. Just don't forget that I love you. And so does Savannah and Ada. You're not weak. You're like Princess Leia. No matter how tough stuff gets, you'll get through it."

Penny gave a small laugh. "I suppose that's my cue to stop acting like Padmé Amidala in Return of the Sith and buck up?"

Leonard smiled. "I think you feel better already. Although, it's _Revenge_ of the Sith."

**Penny may be feeling better at the end of the chapter, but it's just the relief of sharing how she feels with Leonard. Post-partum depression doesn't go away that fast, so there will be several chapters dealing with this, but part of what Penny needed was to tell Leonard how hopeless she felt.**


	13. The Verb

**Wasn't planning on updating until Friday, tests, horses, work, and all, but then I remembered I already had this next part written, so figured I'd drop it off with you guys and then get back to studying! So here you go!**

**Still only own Iris, Savannah, and Ada.**

"Aunt Penny," Iris asked suddenly as the car pulled into the parking space near the apartment building. "What's a verb?"

"A verb?" Penny repeated, getting out of the car and opening the back seat to work on the two car seats.

"My teacher says that every sentence needs a verb, or else it isn't a sentence," Iris said.

"She's right," Penny said, helping the girls out of the car and heading for the lobby. "A verb is an action word. So whatever word in the sentence that tells you what the person is doing. Like now; what are we doing?"

"Walking up the stairs," Savannah chimed in.

"That's exactly what we're doing," Penny said. "So since we are _walking_ up the stairs, _walking _is the verb in the sentence."

"So, if I were to look at Savannah and say 'I'll race you up the stairs', then 'race' would be the verb?" Iris asked.

"Yep," Penny said. "But I don't think it'd be very smart to…"

"Race you up the stairs!" Iris blurted, lunging forward.

"Not fair!" Savannah yelled, taking off after her.

"Be careful, girls!" Penny called after them. By the time she got to the fourth floor, collected Ada from Raj and Missy, and reached the fifth, Iris and Savannah were sitting on the ground, their backs against 5B's door. "Taking a little rest?" Penny asked.

"We are sitting by the door," Savannah said. "Sitting is the verb."

"Very good," Penny said. "Iris, can you take Ada while I unlock the door?"

"No need."

Penny jumped when the door opened and Leonard was standing in the threshold. "Hey. Took a half day in case you needed some down time after your appointment."

"Aw," Penny said. "Go on in, girls." She kissed Leonard lightly on the lips and carried Ada inside. The girls ran off toward Savannah's bedroom, and Penny sank down on the couch with the baby.

Leonard sat beside her. "How was your appointment?"

"We're cutting right to the chase, huh?" she said.

"Well," Leonard said, "I'm sorry enough I couldn't be there; I'd like to know how it went."

Penny nodded. "It was fine. Basically the doc asked me how I was feeling, how my relationship with Ada is, if my relationship with Savannah has changed, the last time you and I had sex, if I'd had this after Savannah's birth, blah blah blah." Penny shrugged. "Gave me a prescription, I can still breastfeed, so he expects me to have perked up soon."

"Well, that's great," Leonard said, putting a hand on her knee. "That's really great."

She smiled. "Yeah. She also encouraged me opening up to some of my friends, so I was thinking of meeting with the girls tomorrow and telling them. They've been pestering me to hang out, anyway."

"That sounds like a good idea," Leonard said. "Where are you going to meet them?"

"Well, definitely out of this building," Penny said, smiling at Leonard's relieved look. "You were right. I need to get out some more."

"Hey Mommy?" Savannah asked, her and Iris skipping out into the living area.

"Yes, baby girl?"

"We have a verb question," Iris announced.

"Are you still on that?" Penny said. "I thought little kid attention spans weren't that long."

"We were playing with the letters," Savannah said. "And I spelled out 'verb'. But Iris says I spelled it wrong."

"It's V-U-R-B," Iris said. "Right?"

"No, actually," Leonard said. "It's…"

"V-I-R-B," Savannah announced, sticking her tongue out at Iris.

"Nope!" Leonard said. "It's V-E-R-B."

Savannah wrinkled her nose. "That's stupid."

"I don't make the rules," Leonard said, shrugging. "The verb in that sentence being 'make'."

Savannah was frowning. "What's the verb in the sentence 'Your mommy was busy doing your daddy'?"

"Well, 'was' is a verb," Leonard said. "And so is 'doing', so…wait, what?"

Penny was looking at Leonard with raised eyebrows. "Savannah, where did you hear that sentence?"

"Uncle Sheldon."

"Of course," Leonard said, putting his hand over his eyes.

"How does somebody do somebody?" Iris asked.

"Well, it's like this," Leonard started.

"Mommy was going to be an actress," Penny said. "You know, be on the TV? Well, when you're acting, you're pretending to be somebody else. So I guess Uncle Sheldon means that I was doing – imitating, pretending to be – Daddy here." Penny wiggled her shoulder slightly, then cocked her head a little, frowned, and said "I'm a physicist. I think about stuff and write some of it down."

Savannah and Iris giggled. "You're good at doing Daddy," the blonde announced.

Leonard coughed to hide his amusement. "Wow, Penny," he said. "I didn't think you'd be doing me in the middle of the living room with three children present!"

Savannah cocked her head. "What?"

"Nothing, sweetie," Penny said, swatting Leonard on the shoulder.

"I don't understand," Iris said.

"And we hope you don't for a lo-o-ong time," Leonard said, patting her on the head. "Why don't you guys go wash up and we'll get you a snack?"

"Okay, Daddy," Savannah said, grabbing Iris's hand. The two girls skipped off toward the bathroom.

"They joke about getting married when they grow up," Penny said. "I think I might half believe them."

"Nah," Leonard said. "They're basically being raised as siblings."

"Speaking of…" Penny said, "do you think…do you think Ada will be close with them? Are Savannah and Iris _too _sisterly? Will that hinder Savannah and Ada growing close?"

"Raj and Howard's relationship didn't prevent him and Bernadette from finding each other," Leonard said.

Penny blinked. "I know you're joking," she said, "but that actually makes a lot of sense."

"Well, in that case," Leonard said, "I wasn't joking. So…" He looked off in the direction that the girls were headed in. "Do you think they'll remember that whole 'doing someone' thing when they get older?"

Penny thought for a moment. "I'm trying to decide if I hope they do or not. But you're the scientist…will they?"

"I think Amy's the one you'd have to ask on that," Leonard said.

The girls came out of the bathroom, Iris drying her hands on her pants. "Iris," Leonard said. "Towel."

She frowned. "Aw, man."

Savannah watched her head back toward the bathroom. "Mommy, Daddy, can I get a dog?"

"Hey," Penny said, sitting up and adjusting her hold on Ada, "we said we weren't going to have that conversation right now."

"Okay." Savannah nodded. "Then can I have a board like Iris and Aunt Gilda?"

"Maybe a puppy," Leonard said, glancing at Penny.

"We can talk about the dog," Penny said at the same time.


	14. Advice Pyramid

**I know I said in "Rules of Engagement" that this would go up Sunday, but I'm putting off packing, so I tapped this out. Thanks for everyone who has reviewed so far, as well as those of you who have sent me the nicest PMs. I am so glad you are enjoying TPA and this sequel so much!**

**And I still don't own anything - definitely not in this chapter, at least.**

Leonard knocked on 4A's door, thinking again about how odd it felt, to be knocking on a door that belonged to him for more than ten years. He still had a key, but he felt as weird about using it as he did about the fact that he didn't live there anymore.

Sheldon opened the door. "Oh, hello Leonard! Come in. Where's Ada?"

"Raj wanted to take her for another walk." Leonard entered the apartment and sat down in a chair that Amy had brought from her apartment when the Shamy first began to cohabitate. "Can I ask your advice on something?"

"I've told you," Sheldon said, "I encourage all of you to ask me as many questions as possible. Your daughter is very good about that, I must say."

"Yeah, about her," Leonard said, "you need to stop talking about Penny and my sex life in front of her. It's not appropriate."

"Not appropriate?" Sheldon said. "But it's the only way she'll learn."

"She'll learn when she's older," Leonard said, "and when she does, she is not going to be served her parents as an example. And it's definitely not going to be you telling her. More than you have already, anyway."

"You know Leonard, I may not be completely familiar with every type of social interaction, but I'm fairly certain that this does not fall under the category of asking me for advice." Sheldon sat down in his spot. "Are you ever planning to get to that part?"

Leonard sighed. "Yeah, okay. So…it's been determined that Penny has post-partum depression, and I've never had to help someone feeling that way before. So I was just wondering, when Amy…when you two found out that you couldn't have children…what did you say to her? How did you make her feel better?"

"Well," Sheldon said after a moment's thought, "she needed some time to herself. She didn't want to talk about it at first. She was probably in denial about what she was feeling. Eventually she told me about it, it was quite emotional, did you know that even when you're married, some women want coitus to make them feel better?"

"I've heard," Leonard said, hoping he'd just get on with it, as he always complained about others failing to do.

"Well, once she talked to me about it, I tried to take her mind off of it, you know, not allow her to dwell on what was upsetting her. I made sure that she knew that I didn't hold it against her, even when her grief made her become angry with me. It was rough, as I'm sure you remember, but she's fine now."

Leonard nodded. "Sounds like you did everything right."

"I should hope so," Sheldon said. "Your girlfriend is the one who told me how to act." He smiled. "Isn't that funny? I went to Penny for advice on how to help Amy, and now you're coming to me for advice that is presumably about Penny, and I'm giving you Penny's advice. It's like we've got an advice triangle happening here, no, no, advice square. Now, how can we get Amy involved in this? If we don't, then this round is only three people, so we'd be down to an advice triangle. Which, considering we already have an advice square, this would be an advice pyramid, which…"

"Sheldon!" Leonard said sharply, snapping his former roommate out of it. "You're getting to the point where other scientists are having a hard time following you. Come back, please."

Sheldon shook his head. "Sorry. Does Amy and Bernadette and Missy know about Penny?"

"She was going to tell them today, when she took them out to lunch. So if they don't know now, they will any minute." Leonard said.

Sheldon nodded. "She never was very good about keeping a secret." He paused a moment and then looked back at Leonard. "Say. Are you busy for the rest of the afternoon?"

"Not until I have to pick up Savannah and Iris from school," Leonard said. "Why?"

"Well," Sheldon said, "I was just about to put on some Ninth Doctor."

Leonard smiled. "Count me in."

They were less than ten minutes into "Rose" when Leonard's phone rang. Fishing it out of his pocket too late to accept the call, Leonard noticed it was from the school, and waited nervously for the voicemail to appear, tapping his foot much to the chagrin of Sheldon. When the voice mail finally did come through, he held the phone to his ear, using his other hand to cover his other ear and block out the television.

_Hello, Dr. Hofstadter, this is Carrie Cicala, the assistant principal at your daughter Savannah's elementary school. Savannah is being held in the principal's office for misbehaving for a substitute teacher, and we'll need you to come and pick her up immediately. We will discuss her punishment further when you arrive. Thank you._

"Oh, my God," Leonard said, standing up. "Sorry, Sheldon. I have to go and get Savannah. She probably started telling her class about how well Penny does me."

"Hey now!" Sheldon shouted, "I never told her that!"

"No, it's…" Leonard paused by the door and decided not to tell Sheldon about Penny's explanation of the verb 'to do' as it applied to people. "Never mind. I gotta go."


	15. Hot Blooded

**And it's new chapter time! Hope you enjoy this...it relates to some of the issues that we've seen since the start of the fic, but shows how both those issues, and stress coming from them and other problems, can affect people as a whole. Hope you enjoy it.**

Leonard entered the office and immediately his eyes fell on the little girl sitting on one of the small plastic stools. "Savannah," he said, "what did you do?"

"Are you Dr. Hofstadter?" asked a woman from behind the desk. "Carrie Cicala."

"I am," Leonard said, shaking her hand and then putting his hands on the desk. "What happened?" He looked back at Savannah, who was staring at the ground.

"Your daughter appears to be the mastermind of a prank," Cicala said, "that involved using desks to pin the substitute teacher in a corner."

Leonard's eyebrows shot up, and he looked over at his daughter again. "Savannah?" She mumbled something that he couldn't understand. "Savannah!"

"It was just a Cattle Drive," she protested. "Mommy used to do it."

_Mommy used to smoke pot, too, are you going to try that next? _Leonard almost snapped. As tired as he was, as worried as he was about Penny, and as upsetting as it was to find that his daughter was quickly becoming a 'problem child', he knew that that wasn't the best course of action. "We'll talk about this when we get home, but you are so grounded, Missy," he told her sternly.

"She is also suspended for one day," said Cicala. "With the understanding that next time it will be more."

"Suspended?" Leonard said incredulously, "for a prank in which no one got hurt? You're not going to tell me that the substitute had a problem getting away from them. Those desks are pint sized."

"Nevertheless, Dr. Hofstadter, we have rules in this school, and if your daughter is going to break them, she has to face the consequences. Isn't that what happens at home?"

"Of course it's what happens at home," Leonard said. "We don't just let them run wild, you know."

"Still," Cicala said, "oftentimes misbehaving at school is a result of a problem at home. Is it possible that your daughter doesn't feel secure in her home environment?"

"Why wouldn't she?" Leonard said. "She's got two loving parents and a little sister, and before you start telling me she's jealous of Nevada, she was acting out in school before the baby was even born!"

Leonard blinked after finishing his sentence, realizing that didn't necessarily make the situation any better.

"Well, it says here that you and her mother are not married." Cicala pointed to their differing last names and marital status on the paperwork. "Could that be causing her any distress?"

"I don't see how it can cause her stress if we're living together," Leonard said. "For all intents and purposes, we are married. We just don't have the piece of paper. I didn't realize no piece of paper could cause a freaking _four year old_ so much stress."

"Dr. Hof…hold on a moment please," Cicala said when the door to the office opened and a woman with a little boy walked in. "Hello, Mrs. Darley, I'll be with you and Max in a minute."

Leonard smiled as Max ran over to Savannah, wondering if the two were friends – and partly hoping he had been involved in this so – called "Cattle Drive" so Savannah wasn't being the only one punished.

"So anyway, Dr. Hofstadter, I think it might be a good idea for you and your girlfriend to evaluate the home life and see if anything is going on that might cause Savannah to act out. She is quite a bright girl, she just needs a little more discipline, and possibly more stablilty."

"So you're saying we're bad parents because my daughter pranked a teacher?" Leonard said. "Let me tell you, people prank teachers all the time. Co – workers prank each other. It's not the start of a nuclear war."

"I know you're protective of your child," the assistant principal said in that same calm, I-know-everything tone that was about to drive Leonard mad, "and all parents believe they are doing everything right, but sometimes you need to take a step back, and…"

"Ow!"

Leonard and Carrie turned in unison. Max had hold of Savannah's hair and had yanked it back, and the girl was slapping at his wrists.

"Max," Carrie said sternly, and the boy let go, still grinning at Savannah, who pouted, holding her own hair, and looked at her father.

Leonard was about to count to ten – a tactic that worked for not blowing up at Sheldon – but then the assistant principal gave him a grin and said "he must like your daughter."

Leonard whirled around. "Are you kidding me?" He said, his face getting red, "_are you kidding me?_"

"Dr. Hofstadter?"

"When he's four, he pulls her hair, and it's cute, he must like her. What about when he gets rough with her when they're in high school? College? Beyond? When does it stop being cute and start being assault?"

"Okay, Dr. Hofstadter," Cicala said calmly.

"Don't take that tone with me," Leonard said, pointing a finger at her. All the stress of the past month came to his head, and he was hot, not in the correct mindset to be talked down. "Don't even try to tell me I'm overreacting." He turned to Max. "Don't you ever pull her hair again, do you understand me?" Max's mother stepped in front of her son. "Oh relax, I'm not going to come at him," Leonard snapped.

"Dr. Hofstadter," came that voice again, more sharply this time. "Maybe it would be a good idea if you…"

"Leonard?" came a new voice from the doorway.

"Penny?"

"What are you doing here?" She asked. Her eyes were surveying the room. Getting over the initial surprise at seeing her, Leonard noticed she looked tired and drawn, a far cry from her smile in the morning before going off to see the girls.

"I got a message about Savannah," he said.

"Same here," she replied. "What's…what's going on?"

"Ms. Cicala thinks we're bad parents because Savannah played a prank on the substitute teacher. The w_hole class _played a prank on the substitute teacher, but because you and I aren't married, it's all our fault."

"_What?"_ Penny said in surprise, looking at the faculty. "We're bad parents because we aren't married? Is this about sulfur?"

"What?" Cicala asked.

"What?" Max's mother said, looking confused.

"She also is suspending Savannah for the prank but didn't say anything to that boy when he got rough with our daughter."

"He just pulled her hair," Max's mom protested.

"You let your son pull my daughter's hair?" Penny asked. She stormed past the mother son duo and scooped up Savannah, who was starting to cry. When she turned toward Carrie Cicala, her face was as red as Leonard's. "We won't bring her by tomorrow, and this won't happen again. But if any boy touches my daughter and you don't do anything about it, you personally, I'll see to it that the school board realizes that most schools don't _need_ an assistant principal. Haven't you been paying attention to those violent news stories? Or are you too busy spending the time assuming that any child with unmarried parents is going to become some sort of delinquent? It's the twenty first century, for crying out loud."

Savannah's sobs grew in volume, making Leonard think of the irony of Penny's last sentence. He came up and took her arm. "Let's go," he told her quietly. Having blown off some steam, he began to feel uncomfortable in the office. "Thank you for calling us," he said to Cicala, guiding Penny and the crying Savannah out into the hallway.

"Do you think we overreacted?" Penny asked as they headed for the front door.

"Yes," Leonard said. "But I don't really care."

She nodded. "Me either."

When they got outside, Penny put Savannah down and crouched next to her. "Sweetie, don't cry, it's okay."

"Mommy and I are sorry for yelling," Leonard said, kneeling down beside Penny and brushing Savannah's hair back. "We've both been under a lot of stress. We shouldn't have yelled."

"In front of you," Penny added to the end of Leonard's sentence.

Savannah stood there, wiping her eyes. "I want to go home," she said tearfully.

"We can go home right now," Leonard said. "Right now." He looked at Penny. "Come in my car. We can get yours later." Penny nodded, and Leonard picked Savannah up to carry her to the vehicle.

When Savannah was settled in the car seat, Leonard got in the driver's side and looked over at Penny, sitting with her eyes closed and her hand in a fist against her forehead.

He reached over and touched her arm. She shook her head.

The car was dead silent the entire drive home.

**This chapter had things get intense in a bit of a different way, but I wanted to show that no matter how disjointed Penny and Leonard might feel right now, with Penny going from depressed to feeling a bit better to now feeling the effects of no sleep again, ditto for Leonard on that last bit, that they'll still unite when it comes to their kids. However, the stress they're both under has made them a bit more volatile, as you see here.**


	16. When You're Around

**Going to make some food for sick kids tonight, but thought you guys should be left with a little entertainment – hopefully warm fuzzy inducing – while I'm gone. Picks up a few minutes after the last one ended.**

When Leonard and Penny picked up Ada from Raj's on their way up to the apartment, the baby was wailing and fussing. "She won't take her bottle," Raj said. I gave it to her just like you said."

"She's picky about bottles," Leonard said, taking the baby from the astro-physicist. "She prefers the real thing."

"She'll be a pretty expensive teenager, then," Raj joked.

"I hope she'll be weaned by the time she's a teenager," Penny said, giving a thin smile.

They finished their walk to the apartment in silence; Leonard wanted to talk, to lift the uncomfortable silence, but Penny was staring at the ground, her hand around Savannah's, giving no sign of wanting to make small talk. So Leonard stayed, silent, cradling his youngest daughter in an attempt to quiet her down, and upon reaching the fift floor, unlocking the door and holding it open for Penny and Savannah.

"Savvy," Penny said, turning the girl around to face her and dropping down to eye level. "Go to your room. I have to feed Ada and then Daddy and I have to talk to you. Okay?"

"I'm sorry," Savannah said, raising her eyes from the floor to her mother.

"That's good," Penny said, kissing her forehead. "But just go to your room for a little while, okay?"

Savannah nodded and walked – it was rare she never skipped – toward her bedroom.

"Give her to me," Penny said, and Leonard handed her Ada. With her free hand, Penny worked her way under her shirt and unhooked her bra – the ones that came apart in the front came in very handy at times like this – and settled down on the couch to let the baby nurse. She put a hand on the back of Ada's head and closed her eyes.

"Penny?" Leonard said, "do you want me to go talk to her?"

"We really both should," Penny said quietly, after a moment..

"I know," Leonard said, "but it's been a crazy day. Let me take care of it."

"No."

Leonard was surprised at how choked up that word sounded. He blinked as Penny opened her watery eyes and shook her head. "No, Leonard, we have to do it together!" She looked away from him as Ada wiggled, turning her head, and Leonard came over and sank down on the couch next to her. "Penny, what's wrong?"

Penny inhaled sharply, and her body shook in an effort to keep the tears in her eyes. Ada wiggled again, and Penny held her closer. "It's okay, baby girl," she whispered, rocking the infant.

"Hey," Leonard said, standing up and reaching to take the baby from Penny. Penny held on for a moment, then let Ada go, and Leonard set her in the baby hammock behind the couch that Howard and Raj had made when Savannah was small. Seeing that the baby was settled, Leonard came back around and sat by Penny. "He-e-ey, what is it?"

Penny bit her lip, shook her head, and then looked over at Leonard. "That horrible woman…"

"Penny," Leonard said sliding his arm around her.

"She suggested we were bad parents!" Penny said, not leaning into him, putting her face in her hands. She stayed that way for a moment, Leonard tried to think of a response, and then she looked back over at him. "I didn't think in this day and age people cared if couples got married, we…" she let out a shaky breath and looked down at her hands. "We love Savannah so much."

"We do," Leonard agreed, wondering if he should tell her he loved her now, or wondering if that would just make it seem like he didn't want to listen anymore. He held it in.

"We love her so much, and…" Penny took a breath, "it was such a struggle to have her, and she and Ada are the best things we've ever done, but just because we aren't married, they must not feel secure?" Penny had been looking down, but now she lifted her eyes to Leonard's. "How can she not feel secure with us? Have we ever given her any reason to make her think that we don't love her with everything we have?"

"_No_," Leonard said firmly, beginning to rub her back, using his free hand to cover her own. "No, we never have. That little girl is so, so loved, and she knows it. Don't let Carrie Cicala tell you any differently. She doesn't know anything."

"I've been so bad at everything in my life," Penny said. "But no one's ever told me I was a bad mother!" Her last two words came out as squeaks, and she collapsed against Leonard, her body shaking, Leonard noting that she was still a little too thin.

"Penny," he said, holding her close, making a _Shhhhh_ noise out of habit, "Penny, you are an amazing mother. You daughters love you, and they know…they know you'll always be there for them." He smiled a bit. "You can't be a bad mother when you let Savannah watch Star Wars before she's even in Kindergarten, I mean, that right there should give us both the title of Coolest Parents _Ever_."

Penny lifted her head long enough to give him a brief smile. "She doesn't know _anything,_" she repeated, as if trying to make herself believe it.

Leonard wanted to go back to the school and make Carrie Cicala sorry for making someone fighting depression feel this terrible.

"Mommy?"

Leonard and Penny looked in the direction of the voice. Savannah, her short attention span clearly past the expiration date, stood at the end of the hallway. A look of terrible concern was on her face. "Mommy!" she said, sounding as if she was on the verge of tears herself.

"Hi, baby," Penny said, giving her daughter what she hoped was a convincing smile.

It must not have been, for Savannah ran across the room and threw herself in the air to join them on the couch. Her knee made contact with Leonard's groin, and he winced.

"Mommy, don't cry!" Savannah said, looking both terrified and empathetic, throwing her little arms around her mother's neck. "Mommy," she said, more quietly now, tears in her own eyes. "Mommy, don't cry. I'm sorry I did Cattle Drive!"

"Mommy's fine, baby girl," Penny said, putting her hands on her daughter's back and squeezing her eyes shut in an attempt to stop the crying from starting up again. "Mommy isn't mad at you. Mommy's just fine. Mommy loves Savannah's hugs."

Leonard smiled.

Savannah let go of Penny's neck and cuddled up to her, her knees tucked up against her stomach so the side of her left leg was against Penny's, Penny's right arm serving to keep her from falling over backwards. Savannah looked up into her mother's eyes. "Are you better?"

Penny smiled lovingly at the little blonde. "I'm much better. I'm always better when you're around, Savvy."

Savannah smiled, satisfied with the answer, and put her head on Penny's chest. "I love you, Mommy."

"I love you too," Penny said, cuddling the girl as close as she could, looking over at Leonard and giving him a look that he could only interpret as grateful relief, "I love you so very much."

**As you can imagine, this will be a setback in Penny's recovery. But it's good for her to know that the specific point that the assistant principal brought up is not applicable to her and Leonard when it comes to making their daughters have a stable home environment.**


	17. Element of Separation

**So I updated last night (I think? What day is it? I need a break from classes!) but here's another one, because I'm not sure when I'll be able to update again. Possibly tomorrow, possibly not until Monday. So here you guys go. In case I haven't been great with time passing - letting you guys know how much time has passed - this is between 4-7 days after the argument at Savannah's school, which would make Ada about two months old.**

**Disclaimer: you all know the drill.**

Howard wasn't used to his wife being restless in bed. Usually, when she was ready to sleep, she was out like a light, completely still, rarely even moving closer to him in the middle of the night. Wherever she was when she decided to sleep was where she slept. End of story.

But tonight, neither of them were still. She was tossing and turning, and he was trying to not get hit in the face by one of her hands. Eventually, he caught one of her thrashing arms by the wrist. "Hey!" he whispered sharply. Her eyes opened. "What's going on with you?"

"Mmm," Bernadette said, rolling over. "Mmmm."

"Bernie?"

"I'm just thinking about Penny," she said, rolling back over to her back so she could see him. "That incident at Savannah's school the other day really messed her up."

"She seemed okay when I saw her at the mailboxes with Raj yesterday," Howard said.

"She's going to her therapy," Bernadette said. "It's helping. But she's still harboring these feelings of guilt and doubt and every few days they just build up too much, and sometimes she ends up crying in Leonard's arms, or she'll drive to my work and yell about this, that, or the other thing, and sometimes she locks herself in the bedroom and won't come out for a couple of hours. Leonard called the doctors and they said that when she does that to leave her alone, she's not in a state of mind to hurt herself, and with two kids, she might just need time alone."

"And he confirmed with the doctors that she's going to her appointments?" Howard asked, looking skeptical.

"Well, I'm sure they'd tell him," Bernadette said, "but as Amy, Missy, and I all have different days off, we're tag teaming in following her to her appointments to make sure she goes. And she does, every time. She really wants to feel better. She knows it's not fair to her daughters, or to Leonard, if she's not herself."

"I wouldn't imagine it'd be fair to her, either," Howard said.

"Of course it's not," Bernadette said. "But Penny's not thinking of herself. She wants to feel better, but her daughters are her motivation. She knows Leonard understands that she's not herself, but Savvy and Ada aren't old enough to get it. So she wants to get better as soon as she can, for them."

"Well…" Howard wasn't sure how to respond. "She seems to be doing everything right. Why are you so worried?" he asked, semi playfully, touching her nose with his finger.

Bernadette sighed. "Because…because today she…I was talking to her after work, and she told me that she doesn't understand why she isn't feeling better."

"These things take time, don't they?"

"Yeah," Bernadette said. "But I guess Penny expected this therapy to be a magic solution."

"Well," Howard said, "in a way, it is, isn't it? Not so long ago, these kind of mental and emotional crutches weren't regarded as valid illnesses. The fact that it's available now…that's gotta count for something."

"Yeah, but that's not the way that depressed people think," Bernadette reminded him. "I just hated seeing that shadow in her eyes. She still feels guilty, like a failure, and that's bringing back her old insecurities. And I don't think she wants to talk to Leonard again. She opened up to him just before she told us, and I think admitting to him that she's not magically feeling better yet is too embarrassing for her."

"That doesn't sound very healthy," Howard said.

Bernadette shook her head. "It's not."

* * *

Leonard let out a sigh, turning his head to see Penny. She'd wanted to go to bed early, while Ada was still sleeping, and though Leonard hadn't been tired at all, he'd joined her, hating the idea of watching television on the couch while she curled up alone in bed. Usually, he could play with Savannah, but she was staying at Gilda's that night.

He wasn't sure Penny appreciated his company, though. Like she always did now, when they crawled into bed, she rolled on her side away from him and didn't say a word. He knew it took her a while to fall asleep, but she didn't speak to him or even acknowledge that he was there. He was sure that she wouldn't notice or care if he _did_ go back into the other room. But she wasn't protesting his presence, so he stayed. He'd rather be near her, whether they were cuddling or not. But he still wasn't feeling like he was being much help.

When Ada started to cry, Leonard jumped up, hoping he could get to her before Penny woke up. He reached the girls' room and lifted the baby out of the crib, holding her close and talking soothingly to her. He made his way into the kitchen and opened up the fridge. There was still some milk left over, that Penny had put in there in case Ada needed to be fed while she was at therapy. He took out a bottle and fumbled, using one hand to heat it up while supporting the baby in the other. Ada was fussing, but she wasn't being very loud, and he hoped Penny would stay asleep despite her gender being sensitive to high pitched noises while sleeping.

He managed to remove the bottle, and set Ada down to test the temperature. Satisfied, he picked her back up and carried her to the couch.

Ada made a face and turned her head from the bottle. "Come on, Nevada," Leonard said. "I know I'm not Mommy, but this is the only way Daddy can feed you." He leaned over, his face closer to hers, and whispered dramatically, "_I'm unevolved."_

Nevada's mouth sprung open and she made a sound he'd never heard before. It wasn't exactly a laugh – she was still a bit too young for that – but it was close enough. Leonard grinned and directed the bottle toward her, and this time she took it.

"You're such a good little girl," Leonard told her. "Being nice and quiet so Mommy doesn't wake up. She needs her sleep, you know. So when you start crawling around everywhere, we can both chase you down and keep you from stirring up trouble."

As Ada's mouth worked the bottle, her eyes closed lazily, and Leonard smiled, closing his eyes himself, momentarily, and taking a deep breath. They were good parents. There wasn't a question of that. He began to sing in a low voice.

"There's antimony, arsenic, aluminum, selenium. And hydrogen, and oxygen, and nitrogen, and rhenium. And nickel, neodymium, neptunium, germanium."

Ada finished her meal and gave her father what he definitely recognized as a smile.

"Iron, americium, ruthenium, uranium. Europium, zirconium, lutetium, vanadium."

Leonard picked Ada up rocked her, turning in a small circle. "And lanthanum, and osmium, and astatine, and radium, and gold! And protactinium! And indium! And gallium!"

He made it through the entire song twice before he had to change Ada's diaper, and he stopped singing as he carried her back to bed, so as to not wake Penny. "Sleep for a while, little girl," he instructed her before leaving the room.

He returned to find Penny in the same position that he'd left her in, and he smiled, glad he could give her at least another couple hours of sleep. Crawling into bed next to her, he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, feeling her unconsciously push against his lips. Glad that she hadn't moved away from him, Leonard slid back to the other side of the bed and let her have her space.

But it was hard. He missed feeling her sleeping against him, her arm over his chest, her head tucked under his chin. He missed feeling her breath keeping a spot on his chest, cheek, or neck warm all night. He missed her lifting her nose up to nuzzle his cheek affectionately. She was so close to him, but at the same time, he felt like she was pulling away.

It was ridiculous, he told himself. Of course it was ridiculous. She loved him, she still told him that, he had no reason to doubt their relationship. If he was really honest with himself, he wasn't worried about _that_ part of it. But when she separated herself from him like this, she was either angry or otherwise upset. And he knew she wasn't angry with him. So the only conclusion he could draw was the therapy wasn't working as well as either of them had hoped. Leonard wondered how long it would take for everything to be back to normal. And he momentarily wished he hadn't let Savannah take his board over to Gilda's.


	18. Well That Escalated Quickly

**This chapter is named "Well That Escalated Quickly" because I wasn't expecting this to come out so soon…in my rough outline, I had the ending of this chapter to happen about chapter twenty. But it seemed to fit better here than in its original spot, so I've done some re-working of the second half of the fic. (As of now, I have at least thirty chapters planned, but those of you reading me for a while know that what's left could double or get cut in half.)**

"I'm so glad we could get you out of the house today!" Bernadette said as she and Amy slid into the side of the booth opposite Penny and Missy. "It's good to see you out and about more often."

"Well," Penny said, "with the counseling, I have to get out during the day. And I have to pick Iris and Savannah up from school every other afternoon. And if it wasn't usually the same day Leonard _takes_ them to school as opposed to Mark, I'd probably forget what days I have to get them."

"Raj wouldn't let you forget," Missy said. "Because those are the days he gets to look after Ada for an hour."

Penny smiled. "I love how attached he is to her!"

"Me too," Missy said, smiling. "It's real sweet."

"Since you just came from counseling," Bernadette said, "how did that go?"

"Well," Penny said, "better, I think. Though honestly, I still can't get past the guilt. I'm trying, but it's so…well, hard."

"At the risk of sounding unsympathetic," Amy said, glancing up from her phone to look at Penny, "if Leonard has told you that he doesn't think you're unworthy because you needed surgery, what more do you need? You and Ada are healthy, and you have Savannah, too."

"I know," Penny said, "and I'm grateful, it's just…it's hard not to think about it when you're around scientists."

"What do you mean?" Bernadette asked.

"Well…evolution," Penny said. "Survival of the fittest, and…that stuff. Like, if you're worthy of passing yourself on to the next generation, you do, and if you aren't good enough, you die, or you don't reproduce at all, or you do reproduce but your children die. But science has made people able to survive even when they aren't supposed to." She let out a sigh, and then put a finger to her chest. "_I am not supposed to be here. Ada is not supposed to be here. I am not good enough to pass my genes on. The only reason we are alive is because of scientific advancements."_

"That's ridiculous, Penny," Bernadette said. "A ruptured uterus is a freak thing. If it was supposed to happen, if you were genetically weak, it would have happened the first time. Or you would have miscarried. Or Savannah and Ada wouldn't have been born healthy. Just because evolution is a fact…"

"Hey now," Missy started.

"_Just because evolution is a fact,_" Bernadette said again, and Missy held up her hands in surrender. Amy looked relieved that they weren't going to get into a debate about what the word _theory_ meant in the scientific world. "Doesn't mean that something crazy happening, out of the blue, is evolutions way of telling you that you aren't supposed to be here," the microbiologist finished. "If it was, then quite frankly, you wouldn't have survived the surgery. The doctors aren't miracle workers. Sometimes they lose patients. Sometimes they lose patients because of pre – existing conditions. And sometimes they lose patients for seemingly no reason at all. But you made it, and so did Ada. You're not an evolutionary mistake."

Amy's phone buzzed and she looked down at it. "I have to get going," she said, "Sheldon's had an epiphany that he swears will win him the Nobel Prize."

"Ah, I'm sure it will," Missy said, resting her chin on her hands. Amy looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "I'm serious!" she protested.

When Amy was gone, Bernadette looked at Penny again. "Stop caring about what role science has in your life," she said. "You don't even like science, remember?"

"Leonard is science," Penny said. "You're science. Amy's science, Sheldon's science, Raj and Howard are science. And you know, Bernadette, how afraid I was of something like what happened with Ada happening with Savannah. You were there in the early hours. I was so afraid of letting him down, and…it just feels like that _did _happen this time."

"You know," Bernadette said, reaching over and squeezing Penny's hand. "Without science, most of us wouldn't be here. Leonard needs medicine for his asthma. Sheldon spent much of his childhood at a hospital. Howard has a heart problem. Science is responsible for a lot of us being here. Try not to be guilty. Try to be thankful. Thanks to science, you and Leonard can grow old together. Thanks to science, you have _two_ daughters. Thanks to science, your daughters exist, both of them, because without science, Leonard might not be here at all."

* * *

Sheldon greeted his wife with a smile when she entered the apartment. "What was so important that you had to come home so fast?"

Amy looked at him, her eyes flashing. "What?"

Sheldon took a step back. "You texted me and said you had to come home right away…"

"Yeah, I had to get out of there," Amy said. "I couldn't listen to Penny's sob story anymore."

Sheldon cocked his head. Never had he heard her speak of Penny this way. "Are you…are you upset about something?"

"Of course I'm upset!" Amy sputtered. "I _cannot_ have _children_, Sheldon!"

"I know that. I was there."

"Will you just shut up and let me talk?" Amy said. "I cannot have children. Ever. And I love Penny, but she's up there being all depressed because she feels_ guilty _that she couldn't give birth – a _second time_ – without needing lifesaving surgery. How guilty do you think that _I_ feel, not being able to give you a child _at all_? I'd take a _forty hour labor_ that ended in emergency surgery if it meant that there could be a person in this world that is half Sheldon Lee Cooper and half Amy Farrah Fowler!"

Sheldon looked genuinely confused. "But you talked to people. You talked to me. I thought you were okay."

"I…" Amy stopped a moment. "I thought I was. And then maybe I actually was okay. But now, with Penny…she's so selfish. She wants to be this mighty female who has all these babies with no assistance, and she knows good and well that I would go through all that a dozen times over."

"Amy," Sheldon said slowly, carefully, as he always did when he wasn't entirely confidant of the point he was trying to make, "you always talk to me about communication. How you need to…tell someone how you're feeling."

"Are you honestly saying that I'm not doing that right now?" Amy asked

"No," Sheldon said. "No, this is very clear. My point, if you'll allow me to get to it, is, did you ever tell Penny you were resentful of her ability to have children?"

"No," Amy said. "But at the time she was pregnant with Ada, I _wasn't_ upset."

"So then, that being out there," Sheldon said, "how was she insensitive for accidentally becoming pregnant with a baby that until now, no one, including you, knew you resented?" There was a silence. And then Amy lowered her head. "Emotional illness is, I'm told, a thing," Sheldon said. "I suffered it, if you remember, when I thought that Penny would die. You suffered it when we found out you couldn't bear children, and now Penny is suffering it. You can't expect her to not feel badly because it's making you feel badly. I wouldn't expect you to suffer just because I was."

Amy blinked. "Yes you would."

"Yes I would," Sheldon conceded. "But Penny isn't married to you."

Amy shook her head. "You've changed so much," she said, "but you're still blunt."

"If I wasn't blunt, I wouldn't be me," Sheldon said.

"That makes you an ass sometimes," Amy said.

"Not this time," he responded. "This time I'm using logic and reason to talk you down from a state of hysterics."

"Hysterics?" Amy said, not as volatile as moments ago, but still angry. "Hysterics? Penny's in that damn coffee shop going on and on about how maybe she was supposed to die because _evolution prevents those who aren't supposed to have children from having children."_

"Well, survival of the fittest does lay in the…"

"_Sheldon Cooper, do you understand what you're saying_?"

"Well, yes, that…oh." It hit him, and he looked uncomfortable. "Amy…"

"Don't even try to tell me that by that argument, I'm not good enough to be a mother," Amy said. "Don't even try. You'd be lying to both of us. Even if you don't agree, that's what that metaphor is saying."

Sheldon sighed. "Are you honestly taking scientific metaphors from _Penny_?"

His point hit home, and Amy stared at him for several seconds, face red, eyes glaring, before softening slightly. She looked at the ground, and then back to his face. She sighed. "I'm sorry," she said after a moment, still looking upset, but calmer now. "I just must not be past this yet."

Sheldon gave a shrug. "You're my wife. You're allowed to get angry with me. It's in our marriage agreement."

Amy sniffed. "We don't have a marriage agreement."

Sheldon shrugged. "You love me, and I love you. And that means that you can get angry with me. Now if you were Kripke, I'd have kicked you out long ago."

"Sheldon," Amy said, "stop talking."

"I'm only trying to…"

"I know," she said. "I know, just…" she walked over and put her arms around him. "Just stop talking."

Sheldon curled his arms around her. "Okay." He felt Amy shaking and became alarmed. "Are you experiencing dizziness?"

Amy pulled back and looked at him. "Sheldon," she said. "I resent Penny."

"But…"

"I know," she said. "I know. I shouldn't. It's not fair. It's not her fault. But I do. Every time I see her now, all I can think, more than ever, is she's a mother. And I am not." She shook her head.

"I can't help it. And I don't know if I can get past it. I'm not even sure if I want to."


	19. Cowboy Pooh

**So…guess who took a nap for the first time in three years and now is not the least bit tired even though it's 12:30 in Michigan? If you guessed me, then congratulations! You are today's lucky winner. So I decided to write instead, obviously, and I have a new chapter for you!**

**Still only own the characters I've created, and I suspect that statement will hold true for the foreseeable future.**

"Mommy! Mommy!" Savannah said, running – as usual – over and jumping up against Penny.

"Careful!" Penny said, turning to the side. She was wearing Ada in a sling. "I've got your sister here."

"Sorry. Guess what?"

"What?" Penny asked, waving to the teacher as she led her daughter toward the door.

Savannah tugged on her mother's hand, and when Penny looked down, she opened her mouth and used her tongue to move one of her upper front teeth back and forth.

"You have a loose tooth!" Penny said. "You're getting so old!"

Savannah grinned. "Iris has one too. It's like her fourth or fifth one."

"Something like that," Penny agreed, taking Savannah's hand and using the other one to support Ada's back. She knew the baby was secure in the sling, but she was protective. "My big girl's got her first loose tooth! What do you say we go to Daddy's work and celebrate?"

"Yay!" Savannah said, jumping up and down. Penny decided not to tell her that she'd brought Ada because they were going to see Leonard _anyway_, since Mark was picking up Iris to take her to the pediatrician. Savannah had her first loose tooth, and she could think they were going to Caltech to tell her father.

Penny loaded the girls into the car seats and got in the front, still wearing the sling. "Everybody ready? She asked, looking in the rearview mirror.

"I'm ready!" Savannah said. She squirmed in the seat until she could see her sister better. "Are you ready, Nevvy?"

"It's Ada," Penny said quickly, correcting her oldest. She'd never heard Savannah call Nevada "Nevvy" before, but it was not going to become a thing if she could help it. She backed the car out of the spot and pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main road.

"Can we go over the speed bumps?" Savannah asked.

"That's not on our way," Penny said. "And it might upset Ada."

"But…"

"Maybe when we don't have your sister in the car, okay?"

"Okay," Savannah said, giving a dramatic sigh. Penny decided not to lecture the girl on her attitude. Today was what the doctors called 'a good day', and she didn't want to fight with her daughter lest it trigger more feelings of worthlessness.

Upon reaching Caltech, Penny wiggled Ada back into the sling and grabbed Savannah's hand. "Let's go surprise Daddy," she said. "Make sure you wiggle your tooth for him like you did for me."

"Of course!" Savannah said, skipping alongside her mother. "Mommy, walk faster!"

"Mommy is carrying your sister," Penny reminded her. "You need to slow down and walk next to me."

"Uncle Raj!" Savannah shouted, yanking her hand out of Penny's and sprinting down the hall. The astro-physicist was coming out of his office, and he gave the girl a big smile when he saw her. "Hey there, Savvy!" he said, bending down and scooping her up when she jumped into his arms. "Did you come here special to see me?"

"I have a loose tooth!" she said, smiling with her teeth and then opening her mouth just enough to work at the tooth with her tongue.

"Well look at that!" Raj said. "You beat me!"

Savannah looked oddly at him. "You still have your baby teeth?"

"Yes," Raj said, completely seriously.

Savannah craned her head around to look at Penny, and the girl's My – entire – life – is – a – lie look almost made her laugh. "He's pulling the wool over your eyes," she said.

Savannah furrowed her brow. "That means I'm lying to you," Raj told her. "Which is very bad. You never want to lie."

"Do you get time out now?" Savannah asked very seriously, almost sympathetically.

"Yes," Raj said just as seriously. "Now you go with your mommy and I'll go take a time out."

"Good luck," Savannah told him as he put her down.

"Good luck?" Penny asked her daughter as they continued down the hall and turned the corner.

"Time outs are worse than jail," Savannah said. Penny gave her an odd look. "What would you know about jail?"

"Well, in Winnie the Pooh, they were in jail but they just walked out the back."

"When were they in jail?" Penny said, struggling to remember.

"Cowboy Pooh! Mommy!" Savannah said, exasperated.

"Oh, right, Cowboy Pooh." Penny vaguely remembered that one. In her defense, she _had_ been pregnant with Ada when they'd gone through the Winnie the Pooh phase and her back had been hurting too much to be able to _truly _focus on the plot.

They reached Leonard's door, and it was open. "Knock knock," Penny said, glad he wasn't in the lab. There was too much high techy techy stuff in there, and if she didn't always read the danger signs, she certainly didn't want Savannah in there.

Leonard had been staring at his computer monitor, and when he saw them his face lit up and he smiled. "Hey!" he said, standing up and coming around the desk.

"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy," Savannah said, jumping in place.

"Hey there, Savvy," Leonard said, leaning over and ruffling her hair. She giggled and swatted at his hand.

"How you doing?" Leonard asked, putting a hand on Ada's back and giving Penny a quick kiss.

"Really well," she said. "It's a good day." She smiled at him. "Your daughter has some news."

"What's that?" Leonard asked, bending and putting his hands on his knees.

"I have a loose tooth!" she said happily.

"You do?" Leonard said. "Let's see! Which one?"

"Iss un," Savannah managed while wiggling her tooth at the same time.

"Wow, a front one!" Leonard said. "Just don't tie it to Raj's dog and have her run. It's from Arthur," Leonard said when he noticed the alarmed look on Penny's face. "Look at you, growing up," Leonard said. "It seems like just yesterday we were bringing you home from the hospital."

"Can I spin your chair?" Savannah asked.

"Sure," Leonard said. "But don't try to spin yourself. Let me talk to Mommy for a sec, and then you can get in the chair and I'll spin you around if you promise to hang on good and tight, okay?"

"Okay," Savannah said, running around his desk, grabbing the chair by one of the arms, and whipping it around.

Leonard looked at Penny. "So what's up?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You know," he said, "this visit. You have Ada with you, so you didn't plan this impromptu when Savvy got her loose tooth."

"Well," Penny said, furrowing her brow for a moment before shrugging, "I didn't have anything I needed to tell you. I just figured we'd surprise you. And it worked out well that Savvy's tooth got loose today!"

"You sure?" Leonard asked. "How did counseling go today?"

"Good," she said. "Really good. She said I'm making a lot of progress. I told her I'm having more good days than bad."

"You are," Leonard said. "You're going to be okay."

She smiled. "I know. It's just still a little rough."

Leonard gave her a look that she could only describe as _longing_. "I know," he said. "But you're getting there. I'm proud of you, you know that, right?"

She gave him a small smile. "I do."

"And you're sure there wasn't another reason for you coming today?"

"Nothing's wrong," Penny said. "I promise you."

He smiled. "Good." He lowered his head to kiss the top of Ada's, then turned around. "Okay, who wants to spin around in the chair?"

"Me!" Savannah said, jumping onto it and squealing in delight when the momentum made it move a couple of inches.

Penny sat down on a stool near the door, cuddling Ada, watching Leonard and Savannah play. She felt like she did have a reason for coming to Leonard's office that day, only she didn't know what the reason was. She'd been truthful in telling him that there wasn't anything wrong, at least nothing that she was consciously thinking of. But at the same time, she really _couldn't _think of a concrete reason why she'd decided to bring their daughters to his office that day. She decided to attribute it to her counselor's advice that she not stick to a strict routine, even though deep down she wasn't completely satisfied with that reasoning.

**Something is starting to change with Penny. Maybe you've figured out what it is, maybe not, but you'll find out in the next couple of chapters, as well as what will happen next on the Penny/Amy front.**


	20. Just Eggs

**This chapter picks up five days to a week after the last one. Just so everyone's following. : )**

**I still only own my own characters.**

* * *

When someone knocked on the door of her lab, Bernadette expected it to be someone bringing her a lecture on using extra grant money to conduct her own personal "I was curious" type experiments. Luckily, Penny didn't ask for an explanation on the relief that flooded the microbiologist's face. "Hey, Penny," she said, smiling. "Hey Ada," she said, greeting the sleeping baby that was strapped against Penny's chest. "What are you doing here?"

Penny shrugged. "I don't know, I just wanted to…say hi, I guess."

Bernadette raised an eyebrow, then glanced at the clock. "I can take a break," she said, removing her gloves and motioning Penny toward some empty crates in the corner. "Come sit. Now," she said when the two blondes had settled onto their makeshift seats, "what's bothering you? Was it a bad day?"

Penny shook her head, looking down. "I feel okay today," she said. "But…I'm having a hard time pinpointing how I feel, and how other people feel, and Amy's the brain scientist but she isn't answering my phone calls, so I figured I could...just talk to you? I just feel we haven't really talked in a long time."

Bernadette nodded. "Sure. But can't you talk to Leonard about this? Or…shouldn't you?"

Penny bit her lower lip. "Part of it is about Leonard."

"Oh." Bernadette looked a little uncomfortable. What are you feeling?"

"Well," Penny hesitated, putting a hand on the back of Ada's head, "last night, I was sleeping, and I woke up, and I thought that Ada was crying, but she wasn't, and then I realized that _I _was crying. I was absolutely _shaking_ I was crying so hard, and even after I stopped, I couldn't fall asleep the rest of the night. I was able to get up to feed Ada twice without Leonard even stirring, because I heard her so fast."

"What were you crying about?" Bernadette asked gently. She grew alarmed when Penny threw her head back slightly, looking at the ceiling, tears welling up again. "Penny?"

Penny lowered her eyes to Bernadette's her voice catching when she spoke. "Why doesn't he want to marry me, Bernadette?"

Bernadette blinked. "What?"

"In my therapy," she said, taking in a deep breath, "they say I'm getting better. They say that Leonard doesn't inwardly find me inadequate. But if that's true…why am I not a Hofstadter? Why haven't we gotten married? I've mentioned it to him and he always says there's no rush. Bernadette, I don't get it."

"Have you told Leonard that you want to move forward and get married?"

"No."

"Have you talked to the…what?" Bernadette said. "You didn't tell Leonard you're ready?"

"He hasn't brought it up either."

"Well why would he?" Bernadette said. "You're recovering from depression. The last thing he wants to do is stress you out. Have you even brought the subject up?"

"Yeah!" Penny said. "And he came back at me with 'we've been building a family, your father got sick, Sheldon and Amy had their problems'."

"Well, there you go," Bernadette said. "Were you ever planning on marrying while you were pregnant, or while Wyatt was recovering from his heart attack, or while Sheldon and Amy were suffering?"

Penny sighed. "I suppose not. But that's all past now. If he really wanted to marry me…wouldn't he have suggested we have a wedding?"

"You know," Bernadette said, putting a hand on Penny's knee, "I'm positive that Leonard wants to marry you. But he doesn't _need_ to marry you."

Penny blinked. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Penny, you have two children together. You live together. You love each other. Marriage is more than a piece of paper. It gives you certain financial and legal rights, but not being married isn't preventing you guys from loving each other or having your family. And as long as you guys have something that needs to be taken care of, he's not in a rush to actually get married. He's not making excuses, he doesn't have to. There a_re_ excuses."

"I know," Penny said. "But…I keep thinking about you, and like how you were talking about how when you smell Sulfur, but you think it's eggs, because it smells like eggs, and it seems so clearly eggs, but…but it's not. It's sulfur. What if our busy schedules aren't why we're not married? What if there's some problem deep down that is preventing us from taking that step?"

"Penny," Bernadette said, putting her hands on her friend's arms. "You've been under a lot of stress, and so I'm not going to drag this out. _You're overreacting_. Sometimes, it's just eggs."

"What?"

"Sometimes," Bernadette said, "when I smell eggs, it's just eggs. Don't overreact and think something's wrong with your relationship with Leonard just because you guys never got married. Unless you can think of something specific that is bothering you about the relationship, then there isn't anything. Stop trying to create one, or else you will."

"Bernadette, we haven't had sex in four months."

That stopped Bernadette cold. "Have you been cleared?"

"Yes. Six weeks ago."

"Okay," Bernadette said, nodding slowly. "Okay, well…why do you think that is?"

"I don't know," Penny said. "I…I just don't know. I wasn't feeling up to it for a while, but he isn't bringing it up, and we're both so tired and I still don't feel sexy with my scar and the idea that it might hurt isn't doing much to make me want to try, but…" she shrugged. "I don't know, Bernadette. It took us a little bit to get back into our groove after we had Savannah. We tried too much too soon. And my body really got beaten up this time. But…" Penny looked down as Ada began to wiggle. "It's okay, baby," she said softly before looking back at Bernadette. "I'm starting to miss him. Every day I want to go to visit him at work. Every night I want to curl up next to him, but then all those self-esteem issues my doctor says I still need work on come back. But…" she shook her head, "I miss being with him."

"Well if you miss the intimacy, then isn't that something you should talk about with him?" Bernadette asked.

"I tried."

"What did he say?"

"No," Penny said, "I mean, I tried to talk to him but I didn't know what to say, so…I didn't."

"Penny, you know what I think?"

"If I did, I wouldn't have to ask you for help," Penny pointed out.

Bernadette nodded. "Okay. I think he's afraid."

"Of what?" Penny said. "The creature from _Alien_ busting out from my scar?"

"No," Bernadette said. "Remember when he was so afraid of hurting you after your cancer scare? And then once you were pregnant with Savannah, he was weirded out letting himself think that she knew what you guys were doing? And then you just told me now that you think you guys got back to it too soon last time."

Penny slowly began to see where she was going with it. "Yeah."

"You had a major childbirth complication," Bernadette said. "And let's face it, you've always dug your heels in whenever he wanted to move the relationship. He probably doesn't want to push you, and is using that has his personal justification for not trying to initiate anything out of fear of hurting you. And if _you_ haven't initiated anything, then he probably thinks you're not ready. And if you _are_ a bit hesitant, even to the point of sleeping away from him at night, then that means he's not wrong."

Penny looked down at Ada again, who had gotten several fingers in her mouth and was sucking on them while looking up at her mother. She had brown hair. She looked like a little version of Leonard. Penny looked back over at Bernadette. "This might be part of why you still have those bad days," the smaller woman said gently. "You need to allow yourself to realize Leonard still wants you. Talk to him. Tell him that you want to be with him again. But don't tell him about what's in those petri dishes on the counter over there."

Penny cocked her head, looking toward the aforementioned counter. "What's is in the petri dishes?"

Bernadette nodded. "Exactly."

"No," Penny said. "Seriously. What's in the petri dishes?"

Bernadette stared at her for a second, her lips pressed together. "None of your business. Don't you have a scientist to seduce?"

* * *

**I initially had Gilda in this chapter too, but then my friends and I were talking about how little Penny and Bernadette stuff we've been getting on the show recently, and so I dropped her part out and made it just a Penny/Bernadette(/Ada) scene. But no worries, Gilda will be back!**


	21. Leonard and the Leonards

**Here's your next chapter, hopefully this will tide everyone in the U.S. and Canada over, since there is no new episode tonight. (Boooo!) It's a little on the short side, just over 1,000 words, but you won't have to wait too long for an update. : )**

**I still own only what I have previously stated to own. Not a single atom more.**

Penny returned from Bernadette's lab and dropped Ada off at Raj and Missy's before heading out to the supermarket. It was the first time she'd gone in years without one of the three children or Sheldon, who apparently was told by Amy that she wasn't going to drive him everywhere anymore, so he reverted to his old chauffeur. She wandered the aisles for the better part of the hour, thinking, as she occasionally did, about how much better fruits and vegetables were when they were home grown. She'd have to take her family out to Nebraska again - Ada had never been - come summertime, to introduce her aging parents to their youngest grandchild and to show her children that food didn't grow in plastic bags and cardboard boxes.

When she returned home, Raj told her Leonard had picked Ada up the hour before, and, he said proudly, the younger girl was showing the same fondness for Cinnamon as Savannah had. "Oh great, we're getting a dog," Penny said before heading upstairs. She reached the fifth floor and, upon opening the door, was taken by surprise at what was going on in her living room.

Leonard sat on the couch, a drum sitting on the coffee table, and he was beating on it with his hands. Savannah stood in front of the table with her bright pink microphone, singing a Disney song, and Ada, the audience, was sitting in the swing, mouth wide open in a baby grin, laughing.

"Well well well," Penny said, putting her purse down as Savannah saw her, dropped the microphone, and ran over to give her mother a hug. "What have we here?"

"I'm singing Hakuna Matata," Savannah said. "It means no worries for the rest of your days."

"So I've heard," Penny said, picking the girl up. "Do I have myself a band in the family?"

"I think I'll stick to my day job," Leonard said. "But I haven't ruled out moonlighting."

"What, will you be Leonard and the Leonards, then?" Penny joked.

Leonard laughed. So did Ada, but Penny suspected she was just in a giggly mood. "Glad _some people_ think that's funny," she mumbled. "How was everyone's day?"

"We had another substoot teacher and I didn't make a cattle drive," Savannah said.

"Good girl," Penny told her, giving her daughter a kiss on the forehead. "Now are you about done with the band?"

"Yes," Savannah said. "My voice is tired."

"It's about time to put Ada down for a nap anyway," Leonard said.

"When she's like this?" Penny said, raising an eyebrow.

"She's been overstimulated. I bet she'll fall asleep quicker than you think."

"Do you want to take a nap too?" Penny asked Savannah. The girl nodded. "Okay." Penny kissed her again and set her down. "Go with Daddy and Ada."

When Leonard returned from the girls' room, he came over and put his hands on her upper arms, kissing her briefly. "How was your day?"

She smiled. "It was good. Went to my session, then visited with Bernadette a little bit."

"Good," Leonard said. "I'm glad you're doing better."

"Yeah," she said, "me too." She put a hand on his arm. "Leonard, can we talk?"

He looked concerned. "Sure, absolutely." He let Penny take his hand and move to sit on the couch.

"Okay," Penny said, realizing that now that it was time to have the conversation, she didn't know how to begin. After Savannah's birth had gone so well, and after they found out what a quiet, good sleeper she was, they'd been ready to jump back into bed with each other as soon as the doctor cleared Penny for such activities. This was such a completely different situation; sitting on the couch with him now, Penny understood why Leonard might have been hesitant to bring this up again. Leonard was looking at her, his face a mixture of curiosity, affection, and concern. If only he'd make the face he made at her back when she was considering breaking up with him. Then she wouldn't have to explain anything. She was powerless against that face. But he wasn't. So she had to talk.

"Leonard, I miss you," she said finally.

Leonard frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," she scooted closer to him. "We haven't slept together since the day Ada was born. And I know that my body needed time to recover and I know that we've been so busy with the girls, but…" she shrugged. "I miss that closeness we have. And I know that we're getting older and I haven't felt up to dressing nice and looking good, but…"

"Penny," Leonard said, squeezing her hands. "If you're ready, so am I. You know I love you and I love when we're close." He lifted their mess of hands to his mouth and kissed one of hers. "Sex isn't just emotional for the woman, you know. It's not like I haven't thought about it."

She smiled. "Can we do it tonight?"

"I'll call Apartment Shamy and see if they can take the girls."

"Great," Penny said. "Just don't take them over there until I pump for Ada." She stopped and cocked her head. "Did I just ruin the mood?"

"Keeping our daughter alive?" Leonard said. "_Extra_ attractive."

Penny rolled her eyes and got up to use the bathroom while Leonard dialed 4A. "No can do," Leonard said when she returned. "Amy told me that they're busy tonight. Want to try Gilda and Mark?"

"That might be who Amy's hanging out with," Penny said. "But sure, we can give them a try." She pulled out her phone, and Gilda answered on the first ring. "Hey, stranger," came the cheerful voice. "Tell Leonard I got a Hell of a work story for him next time we hang out."

"Gilda's got a Hell of a work story for you next time we hang out," Penny repeated.

"Tell her I look forward to it," he said.

"He looks forward to it."

"As he should. Tell him-"

"Gilda!"

"Yes?"

"Leonard and I were wondering…if you'd take the girls tonight."

"Is something wrong?"

"No," Penny said, giving Leonard a smile. "We'd just like some time to ourselves."

"Oooh," Gilda said. "We can most definitely take the offspring." Penny gave Leonard a thumbs up. "That's a relief. I thought you might be hanging out with Amy tonight."

"Nope!" Gilda said. "We're staying in. You bring those babies over here and then you can do your thing."

"Thank you so much," Penny said. "We'll bring them over say, seven?"

"How about six? They can eat with us."

"You're amazing," Penny told her before they hung up. "It's a go!" she said, coming back to sit down next to Leonard again. She put her hand on his neck and kissed him, putting her forehead against his when their lips parted. The realization that that was one of the most intimate things the two of them had done since before Ada was born made Penny all the more eager for the evening to arrive.


	22. No Sulfur In Sight

**This scene's been written a while, but I had to do some adjusting this morning after my sister left (we saw Carrie Underwood and Hunter Hayes last night and it was brilliant), so here you go! A quick update in between my busy Sunday commitments! Enjoy!**

When Leonard got back from dropping off Savannah and Ada to find Penny with an armful of candles and three matches in her mouth. "That's a good look on you," he joked. She rolled her eyes and mumbled something as she carried them into their bedroom. Setting the candles down on the bed, she opened her mouth and let the matches drop into her hands. "I was going to change, you know."

She was wearing sweat shorts and the same tee shirt she had had on all day. Leonard smiled. "You look great."

Penny tossed her hair and gave him a smile. "So do you." She motioned with her head to the bed. "Get in."

Leonard smiled, took off his jacket, and slid under the covers while Penny picked up the candles again, setting them on the nightstand and on her dresser. "We'll try not to set anything on fire again."

Leonard grinned at her. "Sounds like a plan."

She put the candles down and lit them, they were very few, but they created just enough of a soft glowing ambiance that she wanted, and she crawled into bed next to Leonard, under the covers, and they kissed lightly, just on the ends of each other's lips. She put her hand up to his face and he rested one of his on her side, and she closed her teeth lightly on his lower lip as she pulled back from their third or fourth quick kiss. Their eyes opened and they looked at each other, faces inches apart, for several moments, and then Leonard's eyes closed and his head tilted to kiss her again. She closed her eyes and kissed him back, slightly more wanting, scooting closer, and he curled her into his arms and moved his mouth abruptly from her mouth to that spot on her neck, and she pressed her fingers hard into his back, closing her eyes and leaning her head on his and wanting to cry because she missed this so, so much.

When Leonard was finished with her neck, he pushed her down against the mattress and tugged at her shorts, but instead of sliding them off her hips, it was too early for that, he left them just low enough for her scar to be visible. Penny wondered if he was hesitating at the sight of it, but then his lips were back on hers and his hand slid down to trace her scar, lightly and tenderly, as if it was the most wondrous thing she had to offer.

And Penny completely lost it. "What's wrong?" Leonard asked, looking worried, shifting his weight to the side even though he hadn't actually been lying on top of her, and looking worried.

She shook her head, wiping her eyes. "Nothing," she said. "It's just been so long since we've been like this." She held his gaze. "I've missed this so much." She bit her lip, sighing and looking up at him, moving her hands to his neck. "You make me feel special. I haven't felt special in a long time."

"You _are_ special," he told her, returning to his previous task of kissing her, moving from her mouth to her neck again as if to say _and I know how to make you understand how much. See how well I know you?_

"Yep," Penny said out loud, and Leonard raised his head to look at her, confused. She giggled. He shook his head at her and went back to her neck, and she tipped her head to the side to kiss his ear. After a moment, he lowered himself so he was resting on his arms, and then slid them under Penny's back and flipped them over so she could be on top and control how things went. She stretched out on top of him and put her hands on his neck, kissing him deeply, feeling his hands on her hips and wondering why it took them this long to get back to having sex.

But they weren't quite to that yet. It was still too early for that. It'd been four months, but they hadn't even been close in a non-sexual way that much since Ada had arrived, and both of them needed more foreplay, craved it as much as they wanted the sex itself. Leonard flipped them back over, just for now, and went back to kissing Penny's neck, from her eat to her shoulder, and she let out a sigh as she curled her arms around his neck, holding him there, feeling breathless and briefly remembering being embarrassed when he'd figured out that kissing her just below where she'd thrown the salt during his mother's first visit got the sort of reaction it did.

Leonard felt her breathing pattern change as he worked at her neck and smiled to himself, glad that he could tell that he was making her feel good. She deserved it after all she'd been through, and God, he'd missed her. To go from almost no contact at all straight to sex was almost overwhelming, intimidating, but he refused to overthink this because _he was in her arms_ and he wasn't going to ruin it. They'd waited eight weeks after Savannah was born and Penny hadn't been free of discomfort that first time. But it had been four months since Ada's birth, and clearly the extra time had done Penny some good.

She curled her fingers into his hair when he pushed his hips against hers, and then tugged his head up from her neck so she could kiss him again. As their lips met, Leonard slid his hands back down to her hips, holding them firmly in place, knowing that the show of dominance would do something for her and feeling her respond to the action by kissing him more forcefully and audibly.

Leonard was delighted in the responses he was getting from her, partly because it further convinced him that their lack of connection hadn't been due to faults in their relationship, and partly because he did pride himself on knowing her so well. She'd never broken a bed with any of her other boyfriends – he'd made _specific inquiries_ about that – and they'd been together long enough that he knew exactly what she wanted, and he knew how to change things up depending on her mood. Tonight, he knew that if she had any lingering insecurities, it would be about her attractiveness. Despite his assurances that her being their daughter's mother made her wildly attractive to him, she _had_ just been in counseling for feeling guilty about her body's abilities. She wasn't a fan of dirty talk – if she had been, he'd have been a lot better about it with Priya due to practice – but he knew that tonight, saying _something_, anything at all, would do a lot for her. So he gave her another deep kiss, his hand playing with the waistband of her shorts as he kept his hips firmly against her own, and when the kiss ended, he let out an audible breath and whispered "_my God, you're hot."_

That was all she needed. Her mouth captured his again, and her hands curled at the bottom of his shirt. "_Leonard_," she said, frustrated, and he kissed her jawline lightly. "You want to switch?" he whispered, offering to flip them over again, and she shook her head. He kissed her again – knowing better than to do anything with her sensitive breasts, and tugged at her shorts with one hand while her hands went to his zipper. Leonard w_as _the King of Foreplay, but it couldn't _truly_ last forever, and after going four months with hardly any physical closeness of any sort, they were both far too agitated to hold off on going farther.

"I love you," he whispered.

She wondered exactly what she'd been so worried about.


	23. Zip It Lock It

**And here's your next chapter! For those of you waiting on the Penny/Amy development, tentatively, that is planned to be continued in the next chapter. For now, have some Leonard/Penny, Penny/Gilda, and the daughters.**

"God," Leonard said, "I missed this." He cuddled Penny closer and pushed his nose into her cheek.

"Hmmmm," she said, wiggling into a better position for snuggling and sliding her arm around him. "Me too."

"No more sleeping on the far side, okay?" Leonard said. "I don't want to go another night not holding you." He felt her nod, and he put his lips against her cheek. She was worn out, he could tell, and they hadn't attempted to do anything that wasn't standard. She was feeling better, physically and mentally, but she wasn't completely herself again just yet. That was okay for now, Leonard figured. She was getting there, and hopefully after tonight, all her doubts would be gone.

Penny sighed contentedly as he ran his hand along her side, and closed her eyes. "Leonard?" she said after a minute.

"Hmmm?"

"What's next?"

"What do you mean? "

"I mean for the future," Penny said. She sat up and smiled down at him. "We've been engaged since before Savannah was born."

Leonard pressed his lips together. "We've had a lot going on."

"But what do we have going on now?" Penny asked. "We've got two beautiful little girls, Leonard. And you were going to marry me before we had one, remember?"

"When we were afraid," Leonard said.

"You said you were gonna take me to Vegas," she said, leaning down and kissing him. He lifted his head when she removed her lips, trying to continue kissing her, but she put a hand over his mouth and pushed him back against the pillow. "You said that if I was dying, you'd want me to be Mrs. Penny Hofstadter when I did."

Leonard nodded. "I did."

"Well, I am dying, Leonard," she said frankly. "Every day we get closer. We don't know when it's gonna be. We could be hit by a train tomorrow, or we could slip away in our sleep in sixty years. But I don't want to just be Mrs. Penny Hofstadter at the end." She kissed him again. "I want that for as many days as possible."

"Don't think that I don't want that," Leonard said. "I just didn't want to rush into anything, and it always seemed like there was something going on…"

"I know," Penny said, putting a hand on his neck. "I know, sweetie. But there isn't anything right now. Please, it doesn't have to be a huge ceremony, I just…" she lowered herself and pushed their noses together. "I just want us to share a name, Leonard."

"Are you asking me to marry you?" Leonard asked playfully.

"Just following up on your original proposal," she said, kissing him again.

"I hope not the original - original one," he said.

"Well, we're in the right place for it, huh?" Penny joked. "In bed?"

"Different apartment."

"Potato, po-tah-to," she said, kissing him again. "God," she said when their lips separated. "We're getting married, Leonard."

He smiled. "I know." He tugged her down and kissed her again, curling his arms around her lower back. "Soon."

"As soon as possible," Penny said. "Doesn't have to be big and fancy. But we have to do it right."

"We'll just have one that looks nice," Leonard said. "But not too expensive."

Penny sleepily tapped his chest. "I can tell by the voice that you're quoting something, but I really have no idea what."

"That's okay," Leonard said. "I'm just so glad there's no more neutral zone."

"I don't like the neutral zone," Penny said. "We should stop that from being a thing."

Leonard held his hand up and let Penny smack it with her own. "Deal." He was glad that she was ready to sleep, he could tell by her silence and relaxed breathing. He wasn't sure how long he could talk to her without beginning to ramble on about how much he'd missed being able to hold her. But he didn't have to, she was curled up next to him, sleeping peacefully, a small smile on her face, and so he too, stayed silent, smiled, and held on.

* * *

In the morning, Leonard offered to go with Penny to pick up their daughters. "We should really tell them we're getting married when we're both together," he said.

"You have work," Penny said. "I won't say anything. Promise."

"Okay," Leonard said, teasingly sounding as if he didn't believe her. As she walked by him to go to the fridge, his arms snaked out and he caught her around the waist, pulling her against him and kissing her on the cheek. She squirmed into a position where she could kiss him back, then touched his nose before retrieving her water bottle. "Go get ready for work, Doctor Hofstadter," she said. "I'll pick up the kids. Savannah doesn't have school today."

"She doesn't?" Leonard asked, looking confused. "It's a Friday."

"Staff development day," Penny said. "Whatever that means."

"Okay," Leonard said. "I'm going to hop in the shower. Did Gilda say what time to pick them up?"

"I'm going to go in a few minutes," Penny said. She turned and gave him a smile. "Or else I'd hop in there with you."

Leonard looked at her and then toward the direction of the bathroom. "How many minutes do you have?"

"Just go," Penny said, making a shoo-ing motion with her hand and smiling.

Leonard stepped over to her, gave her a long kiss, and then headed for the shower. Penny watched him go and smiled. She already felt ten times better than she had two days ago.

* * *

Penny knocked twice at Gilda and Mark's door, and when someone finally answered, it was her daughter. "Hey Mommy," Savannah said when Penny came through the apartment door.

"Hi baby," Penny said, bending down and kissing both her cheeks. "Where's Aunt Gilda?"

"Iris spilled cereal on herself and…" Savannah was silenced by the aforementioned little girl running out of her bedroom in what Penny could only guess was her second outfit of the day.

"There's the little slob," Penny teased.

Iris gasped at Savannah. "You told! Teller!"

"I didn't tell," Savannah said. "She's a Mommy. Mommys know everything."

Penny decided that she and Leonard needed to have a little chat with their oldest about lying.

Iris, however, seemed satisfied with Savannah's answer. She looked up at Penny. "Hi, Aunt Penny. "

"Hi there, sweetie," Penny said.

"I has a question," Iris said, looking over at the kitchen and biting her lip. "Is your frigerator running?"

Penny raised an eyebrow. "Yes…yes, the refrigerator is running."

"Well then you'd better go catch it!" Savannah and Iris said at the same time, looking at each other and shrieking with laughter.

"Well aren't you guys just a stitch," Penny said, smiling down at them. "Where's your sissy, big girl?"

"Sissy is sleeping," Gilda said, coming out of the bedroom and smiling at Penny. "Hey girl." She said teasingly.

"He-ey," Penny said in the same tone, smiling.

"Oooh," Gilda said playfully. "I take it our master plan was a success?"

"Iris," Penny said. "Can you help Savannah get her things?"

"Yes, Aunt Penny," Iris said, grabbing Savannah's hand as the two girls skipped toward the bedroom.

"So…?" Gilda asked excitedly once the girls were gone. "What did you do?"

Penny gave a little laugh. "It'd been four months for both of us, so…not much." She adjusted her purse. "But there was a _lo-o-ot _of kissing."

Gilda was nodding knowingly. "That explains the shirt with the high collar."

Penny turned pink, but didn't respond directly to Gilda's observation. " And we did talk a lot last night, and we've decided to actively pursue finally getting married."

"Oh my gosh!" Gilda said with her typical enthusiasm. She threw her arms around Penny. "Congratulations!"

"Thanks," Penny said. "But we're not telling the girls until tonight, so…" she put a finger to her lips.

"Zip it, lock it," Gilda said, nodding understandingly.

"Put it in your pocket!" the two girls chorused, coming from the hallway with Savannah's stuff.

"Very good," Penny said.

"What are we zipping?" Iris asked.

"Nothing, Lovvy," Gilda said.

"No secrets, Aunt Gilda!" Savannah protested.

"It's not a secret," Gilda said. "It's a surprise."

"I like surprises," Iris said.

"We know," Gilda said, patting her on the head. Iris put her hands on top of her head. "I'm not a dog!" she protested.

"Mommy, you said I could get a puppy," Savannah said. Then her face lit up. "Is that the surprise?"

"No," Penny said. "I'm going to go get your sister."

Savannah and Iris frowned as Penny disappeared into the master bedroom. "It's a puppy," Iris told Savannah.

The younger girl nodded.


	24. Click

**This chapter skips ahead just a few hours, to Leonard coming home from work. So basically, just to when Penny and Leonard tell Savannah and Ada that they've decided to get married.**

**I still only own Savannah and Nevada. Nothing else. Not even close.**

Penny couldn't remember the last time a day with her children had dragged on so long, but finally, a half an hour after his day at Caltech ended, Leonard was standing in the doorway waiting for his daughter to run over to him.

"Savannah, why don't you take a seat on the couch next to your sister?" Penny asked after the girl had given her father her daily Welcome Home From Work Hug.

"Nevvy isn't sitting," Savannah said. "She's laying in her basket."

"I didn't say she was sitting," Penny said. "I said go sit by her."

"But she isn't sitting."

"Sit on the damn couch," Penny said through her teeth before she was able to catch herself.

Savannah gasped. "Mommy!" She looked over at her father. "Daddy!"

"I heard her," Leonard said, shaking his head. "Penny, what sort of example are we setting for the children?"

"Does she get time out?"

"No one gets time out," Penny said. "Sit on the couch, Savannah."

"Nevvy…" Savannah started, and then realized her mother had left that detail out. She pouted. "Fine."

"Leonard," Penny whispered worriedly, "Savannah thinks we're getting her a puppy."

"Why would she think that?" he asked, coming close to her to ensure that the one who could understand wouldn't hear.

"Long story," Penny said. "Leonard, she's not going to care. It's like we've said, a marriage is just a piece of paper. It's not like we'll start living together or sharing a bed or anything like that. Nothing is going to change for her."

"Penny, listen. This is just like…"

"A science reference that I'm not going to understand?"

He smiled. "Point taken. Let's just tell them, okay?"

She nodded, and he took her hand and led her over to the couch. The knelt down in front of it. "So we have something to tell you, Savannah," Leonard said, still holding Penny's right hand in his left one. "You and Nevada."

"Am I getting a new brother or sister?" Savannah asked.

"No," Leonard said. "No, no more brothers and sisters."

"What's wrong?" was the next question.

"Nothing's wrong, baby girl," Penny said. "Your daddy and I just have an announcement to make."

"Something's wrong," Savannah said, starting to look a little scared.

"Oh, baby," Penny said, shaking her head. "Nothing is wrong."

"Do you remember when you asked why Mommy wears this ring on her left hand?" Leonard asked, gesturing with his head as Penny held her left hand out for their daughter to see.

"Yes," Savannah said.

"Do you remember what Daddy told you?" Penny asked her.

Savannah nodded. "Yes. He said it was a symbol. Like my shirt with Arthur's glasses on the front tells people that I watch Arthur."

Leonard nodded. "And what did I tell you this ring means?"

"That you and Mommy will love each other for fourteen gazgillion years and are going to get married someday."

"That's right," Penny said. "And your Daddy and I have decided that it's time for us to plan a wedding. We're going to get married very soon."

Savannah nodded, but as Penny had thought, she looked underwhelmed. "What does that do?" She asked.

Of course, Penny thought, she wouldn't understand. Howard and Bernadette and Sheldon and Amy had married before Savannah had been born, and Raj and Missy, as well as her parents, lived together. The little girl was still several weeks short of her fifth birthday , and she knew nothing of her parents' history. Of course she wouldn't be jumping off the walls at this news. For her, nothing would change, and to a four year old, if it didn't affect her, the significance would be lost. Penny wanted to look the girl in the eyes and say _why aren't you excited? Don't you understand what this means? _But she knew it wouldn't do any good. Savannah was trying, Penny could see it in her expression, but nothing was clicking.

"Well," Leonard said, "your Mommy and I love each other even more now than when I told you about her ring, so being married is something we really want to do. It's like we're _officially_ in love. And it will make some legal processes a bit simpler. And Mommy will take Daddy's last name. Your teachers and friends' parents will call us Dr. and Mrs. Hofstadter."

It clicked. Penny saw it click, and the smile that came over her face mirrored that of her daughter's. "Mommy will have my last name?" she asked.

"I sure will, Savvy," Penny said, smiling and nodding.

"We would…we would _all_ be Hofstadter?" Savannah said, her eyes big, staring at her parents as if silently pleading with them to affirm.

They both nodded. "We will be Leonard Hofstadter, Penny Hofstadter, Savannah Hofstadter, and Nevada Hofstadter," Leonard said.

Savannah's hands were dramatically covering her mouth, and Penny's eyebrows raised when she noticed the girl's eyes glinting. "Are you crying, Savvy?"

"Mommy!" The girl said, jumping off the couch and against her mother, hugging her and jumping up and down. Penny pulled Leonard into the hug, and the three of them stayed locked in the embrace for several seconds before Savannah pulled back and kissed both her parents on the cheeks before jumping back up on the couch and looking down into Ada's basket. The baby looked calmly up at her sister.

"Why aren't you excited?" Savannah asked Ada, putting her hands on either side of the basket and staring down at the unimpressed four month old. "Don't you understand what this _means_?"

**I felt that the last name thing, since it came up very early on in the fic, would be enough to get Savannah excited. With all her friends' parents sharing a last name, she knew that meant something important, but hadn't quite figured out yet that it happened because the parents had gotten married.**

**I know I'd tentatively had Penny/Amy's arc continuing in this chapter, but I decided I'd rather end it here, with Savannah verbalizing to Ada what Penny wanted to verbalize to Savannah earlier in the chapter, and address the Penny/Amy stuff next time, since I'm not entirely happy with my drafts and need a bit more time on them.**

**Expect an update Sunday or Monday!**


	25. Evolution is a Heartless Bitch

**Here is a chapter that, if we had spent the entire fic in Penny's head, would have been called "Well That Escalated Quickly" instead of chapter eighteen. **

Penny entered the lobby, Ada settled comfortably into the sling, and smiled when she saw Amy at the mailboxes. "Hey, Ames," she said cheerfully, withdrawing her key from her purse.

"Oh, hello," Amy said unenthusiastically, stuffing an envelope into her pocket and turning away toward the stairs.

Penny frowned. "Is everything okay?"

"Perfectly fine," Amy said, turning to face her again. "You?" she asked, sounding not at all like someone who was asking out of genuine curiosity.

"Good," Penny said, "really good, actually. I'm all done with counseling, and now that Leonard and I are planning the wedding…" she smiled, inserting the key into 4B's mailbox. "Everything is finally going right."

"Hmmm. That must be nice," Amy said, pivoting on her heel and heading for the stairs again.

Penny frowned. "Is something wrong?"

"Yeah," Amy said before the wall hid her from view. "My uterus."

Penny frowned, half at Amy's comment and half at 5B's key being stuck in 4B's mailbox. She yanked on the piece of brass, and it popped out. She shoved it in her pocket and, supporting Ada's head, jogged for the stairs, catching up to the marching Amy on the second landing. "Amy…are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Amy said, keeping her eyes forward as they ascended toward the third floor. "It's not like I have any problems in my life." She made a sharp turn to head to the next section of stairs and jogged up the first few, trying to put distance between herself and Penny.

"Um…" Penny wasn't sure how to respond to her friend's sudden chill, and she rushed to catch up. "Is something the matter? Did you find out something else? Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine," Amy said, climbing the final few steps to the fourth floor. "In fact, I'm a lot like you. I have a husband who loves me and a place to stay. But lucky for me I have a condition that renders me incapable of going through the biological process of childbearing. Because I hear that sometimes, the price of these little people loving you unconditionally, these little people that are half yourself and half the man you love more than life itself, sometimes you don't have perfect deliveries and sometimes you get sad that you aren't this powerful baby making machine that never has complications and you have to go talk to some therapist because you somehow don't think your life is just as amazing and perfect as you want it to be."

Penny stopped, staring at the neurobiologist. "Is that what you think of me?" she asked incredulously. "You think that I'm selfish?"

"You _are_ selfish!" Amy said. "You have these two beautiful daughters, and you've spent the last four months whining about how you weren't able to give birth to Ada the natural way, and how maybe that was evolution telling you you weren't supposed to be a mother, and you did it _right in front of me. _ I know it didn't make the home page of the _Pasadena Star_, but _I cannot have children._" Amy stopped for a deep breath. "I can't give birth naturally, I can't give birth through a C-section. Maybe you think that evolution is trying to tell you something, well, evolution is screaming in my ear with a megaphone _you can't do this. _You know how upset I was when I found out. Do you honestly think that I'm just going to...to be magically okay?"

"Oh Ames," Penny said, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to sound insensitive. Do you want to go out somewhere to eat? Leonard can watch the kids. I won't even talk about them at all."

Amy shook her head. "I'm busy tonight."

"Tomorrow, then?"

"I'm busy then, too." Amy reached for 4A's doorknob.

"Busy doing what?" Penny asked.

"I'll think of something."

"Amy, don't be like this."

Amy turned to face the blonde woman. "Maybe you weren't being selfish and insensitive on purpose," she said. "In fact, I'd bet money that you weren't intentionally trying to rub it in. But you did. I may have idolized you once," she acknowledged, "but now? Now I can't stand to look at you. I wish it was different. But it's not."

Ada was beginning to squirm, roused by the tense tone in Amy's voice. Penny rubbed her back absentmindedly. "Amy, I'm sorry. I'm _so_ sorry. I love you, I don't want you to resent me."

Amy sighed. "I don't want to resent you either. But I also don't want to be infertile. Some things you just can't help." She turned and slipped into the apartment, closing the door behind her.

Penny stared at the closed door for a moment, then, her head shaking slightly, she stepped backward, and then backward again, until she felt herself hit something solid. Leaning against it, she clutched her daughter, sliding down to a sitting position on the floor, tears freely falling. _I can't stand to look at you._

The last time Penny had hurt like this, Amy had been there to comfort her. Amy had always been there for her. Now, without realizing it, certainly without trying to, Penny had pushed her so far away that the scientist didn't even want to see her.

She nearly lost her balance when the door she was leaning on opened, and then she heard Raj's voice. "Penny?"

Penny looked up, craning her neck around to see the astrophysicist, looking down at her with concern. "Raj," she managed. "Amy hates me. _Amy hates me_."

Raj bent, putting his hands around Penny's upper arms and drawing her to her feet. He slid his arm around her and guided her to the couch, and when she sank down on it, he lowered himself beside her and, like she'd done for him several times before, drew her head to his shoulder and let her cry.

**As we've never seen Amy get so furious with Penny in the show, this was both fun and difficult to write. Amy's been harboring these feelings for months. Penny's devastated, not good for someone who just finished therapy. Don't expect this damaged Bestieship to be repaired anytime soon.**


	26. Valence Electrons

**And it's an update day! I'm very unsure when the next update will come. Probably Sunday at the earliest. But I could surprise myself. Enjoy!**

Leonard approached 4B and knocked. After a moment, Raj appeared, holding Ada. The baby grinned when she saw her father. "Hey there," Leonard said, touching his finger to Ada's nose. The baby giggled. "How is she?" he asked Raj.

The Indian motioned with his head toward the couch, and Leonard looked over his shoulder to see Penny curled up on the couch, looking absolutely miserable. "Thanks," he said quietly to Raj, slipping by him and walking over to the couch. "Hey," he said, dropping down to his knees and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Let's go home. Okay?"

Penny bit her upper lip, looking up at Leonard with red eyes. It seemed to take her a minute to realize it was him, and then she sat up and leaned forward to wrap her arms around his neck and bury her face into his shoulder. "Hey," he said, rubbing her back. "Everything is going to be okay. Let's just go home." He heard and felt her sigh. "Come on," he said, starting to stand up and pulling her with him. Penny reached for Ada as they passed Raj, and cuddled her daughter to her chest as she and Leonard climbed the final flight of stairs and entered their apartment.

"Put Nevada down and then come sit with me," Leonard said quietly, and she nodded, kissing the baby's forehead and walking toward the bedroom.

Leonard sat on the couch and waited for Penny to come back out. When she didn't, Leonard got up and headed down the hall. Ada was lying in her crib, waving her chubby baby arms at the mobile hanging above. Leonard moved to the master bedroom and found Penny kneeling in the middle of the bed, her hands on her knees, staring down at them. "Penny," Leonard said.

"Sorry. I thought you meant talk in here." She said quietly.

"It's okay," Leonard said. "We can talk in here." He settled down next to her and tilted his head to see her face. "Penny?"

"Did Raj tell you?" she asked.

"He told me what he knew."

"So you know Amy hates me."

"Amy doesn't hate you. Amy's just…she's frustrated, I guess."

"And it's all my fault," Penny said. "I was acting so pathetic, I mean, going to therapy for _having a healthy baby_?" She shook her head. "What's wrong with me? I'm so ungrateful. I have…you, and Savannah, and Ada, but that wasn't enough for me. And I didn't even think about how Amy must be hurting."

"Penny," Leonard said, "you were depressed. And though she appeared to have moved past it, she probably is too. It's not your fault and it's not hers. It's just unfortunate that something happened to two people in the same social circle at around the same time."

Penny slowly began shaking her head again. "Leonard, she hates me. She can't stand to look at me. She doesn't want to be around me…" Her face contorted, and if she hadn't cried so hard earlier with Raj, Leonard suspected that she'd be absolutely losing it right about then.

Leonard put his arm around her. "Penny, it's going to be okay. If Princess Leia could forgive her father, Amy will forgive you. It just might take some time."

Penny let out a long, shuddering breath. "I don't want to take time. Everything was going right again. And now I've lost so much."

"Amy just needs time," Leonard said. "She loves you. She's just upset right now." He kissed her temple. "Do you want to eat anything? Or do you want water? Is there anything at all I can do?"

Penny looked over at him for a long moment, then closed her eyes and put her lips on his and scooted closer. Leonard put his hands on the sides of her face and pushed her back slightly. "Penny, you're really upset right now…"

"For God's sake, Leonard, this isn't a booty call I'm going to regret later on. You're going to marry me."

Leonard realized she had a point. "I just need to forget for a while," she continued "Ada's quiet, Savvy's with Iris, just…" she wiped her eyes. "people around here haven't been great at being up front with each other recently. So…" she looked at him again. "I want to have sex with you and I want you to do all the work and then I want you to hold me and I know that fits with what Amy said about me being selfish but it's what I want and I can't help it. Just like she can't help resenting me." She sighed.

Leonard nodded slowly, still looking at her. "Lay down."

She smiled. "You're the best."

"Save that comment for later," Leonard said as he shifted his position so he could kiss her. "I had a rough day at work and could use the compliment."

* * *

"I said I don't want to talk about it, Sheldon!"

"That's what you said," Sheldon said. "But from my experience, when a female says she doesn't want to talk, she actually does. At least, that's usually the case when Penny tells Leonard she doesn't want to talk."

"Are you _honestly_ talking about Penny right now?" Amy asked.

"Well…"

"Go on!" Amy said. "Tell me! Tell me why you thought that was a good idea!" She stormed down the hallway and slammed the door to the empty bedroom.

Sheldon thought about following her, but decided that speaking to the man more used to talking to his girlfriend about issues like this would help him more. He ran up the flight of stairs and knocked on 5B's door. "Leonard and Penny? Leonard and Penny? Leonard and Penny?" He frowned. They had to be in there; Leonard had just dropped Sheldon off at 4A not fifteen minutes ago…he placed his ear against the door and listened. After a few seconds, he jumped away from the door. "Oh, dear."

Heading back downstairs, Sheldon realized that, had his hearing served him correctly, Amy _had_ in fact gone into Leonard's old room when she'd stormed down the hall. Not the room they shared, but the room they were planning to give to their child. He hesitantly crept down the hall and tapped lightly on the closed door. "Amy? Amy? Amy?"

"What."

It wasn't spoken like a question. Sheldon tapped his foot, thinking, and then came into the room to find Amy sitting on the floor in the corner. "Amy," he said hesitantly, "I've…I've treated my friends horribly on occasion. Some might have called me selfish, or arrogant, or…other choice words that I will not repeat because for all our differences, I am my mother's son."

"What's your point?" Amy asked.

"Penny loves me."

"So?"

"So, despite all the times I've made her angry or frustrated or late for work or super uncomfortable…" Sheldon shrugged. "We're still friends. And if Penny and I can be friends, you and her can be friends again."

"She's just so insensitive, and…and boastful, and selfish, and…"

"And none of that is on purpose," Sheldon said. "The duration of time I've spent with Penny over the past dozen years, and my improvement at reading people in general, has made me very able to see when she's doing something on purpose. She has this mischievous gleam in her eye. Like on Firefly when Mal Reynolds is messing with someone. It's very recognizable. And, well, that gleam hasn't been there since before Ada was born."

"I think I know Penny pretty well, too," Amy said.

"Then quite frankly," Sheldon said, "if you don't see what I see, you're either actively trying not to, or so desperately looking for an outlet for your frustrations that you simply can't."

"This is a terrible pep talk," Amy told him.

"It's not a pep talk," Sheldon said. "It's a statement. I love you, but I can't support an unjust anger toward someone else in my social group. That will change our dynamic. And I simply can't have that."

"Well, I simply can't help how I feel about Penny," Amy said. "I'm sorry if I can't just flip a switch and make these feelings go away."

"I'm not asking you to," Sheldon said. "But my hypothesis is you'll get over it eventually. You have to. You're missing a valence electron, and for people like us, those are hard to come by."

"Penny doesn't need me any more than I need her," Amy said.

"We agree on that point," Sheldon said. "But I think we disagree on the amount of need between you."

Amy looked at him for a long moment, then scoffed and looked away. "You don't exactly have a doctorate in reading people."

"And Leonard isn't exactly a good cook," Sheldon retorted. "But he's gotten good at making what he's familiar with."


	27. The Grandpa Joe Paradigm

**Here's an update for you! My weekend plans fell through, so you're getting a new chapter a bit earlier than I'd expected. I don't expect any of you mind.**

**And I still only own the babies.**

When Iris and Savannah asked if they could go to the park, Penny was grateful for an excuse to get out of the building, off of Los Robles, and out of Pasadena. The past two days had included two stressful loads of laundry, Amy slamming her door shut at the sight of Penny and Leonard in a similar way that Penny had done upon seeing Leonard and Sheldon after what she thought had been a sexual experience with Raj, and a walk up four flights of stairs next to the neurobiologist that was about as awkward as Penny's identical experience with Priya.

Upon Savannah and Iris running up to her, putting their hands on her knees as she nursed Ada and asked, with big smiles on their faces, to get away for a few hours, Penny practically had them in the car by the time they'd finished their query, and had them out to the park almost before they could cheer in response to her agreeing to take them.

Now, thirty five minutes after reaching the park, they were playing hopscotch on the pavement, getting smiles from the joggers going by, while Penny sat in the grass about five feet away, Ada on her back next to her. The baby kicked her feet and smiled up at her mother.

"If you don't start crawling soon," Penny told her youngest daughter, tickling the girl's stomach and smiling as the baby laughed and drew her knees up, "I'm gonna start getting worried about you. Your big sister was crawling shortly after she was five months old. You're six weeks behind! And I suppose I'm lucky you don't know what I'm saying, because in thirteen years me comparing you to Savvy like this could come back to bite me in the ass."

She flipped Ada over and held her so her hands and knees touched the ground. The baby squirmed and made a discontented sound. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Penny said, lifting her up and cuddling her. "You're okay.'"

"oooooo aye" Ada said, putting her hand up to Penny's lips.

"Okay," Penny repeated, recognizing that her daughter was trying to imitate the word.

"ooooo aye," Ada said again.

Penny nodded. "Okay!"

Ada laughed. Penny did too. "I suppose that will do for now," she said, looking up to check on the older girls. They'd abandoned their hopscotch game and were playing two person leap frog. "Don't go to far, girls!" Penny called.

"Yes mama!" Savannah said.

"Yes, Aunt Penny," Iris said at the same time. They turned around and leap frogged back.

"Mama," Savannah said, skipping over to Penny and putting her hand on her knee again.

"What do you want?" Penny asked, recognizing the girl's set up for asking for something.

"You said you'd get me a dog."

"I don't remember that," Penny said.

"Mommy!"

"What brought this on?" she asked. A bark answered her question – upon a turn of her head she could see a pre-adolescent girl laying in the grass with a Labrador. "We'll see. When Mommy and Daddy get married, maybe."

"Can we get ice cream?" Iris asked.

Penny suddenly felt exhausted at all the jumping around the girls were doing. "If we go right now, we can get ice cream. Then I gotta take you back to your house, Iris. Your daddy is coming back from his business trip today."

* * *

Penny grabbed Savannah's hand as they reached the fourth floor and urged her to walk faster. "Can we eat with Uncle Sheldon and Aunt Amy tonight?" the girl asked.

"No," Penny said.

"Why?"

"Because they're busy," Penny said. "They don't want to be disturbed. Remember how Daddy talked to you about respect?"

"R-E-S-P-E-C-T," Savannah said.

"Very good," Penny praised. "Respect."

"esssssssssss," Ada said from Penny's arms.

"No, R," Savannah told her sister. "R-E-S-P-E-C-T."

"She was trying to say 'respect'," Penny said. "But she can't make the 'R' sound yet."

"Member when I used to say lellow instead of yellow?"

"I do."

They walked in silence until Penny unlocked the door to their apartment, and Savannah, who had been walking much longer than she would usually, broke into a run and headed for her room.

Penny carried Ada into her and Leonard's room and sat the baby up against the pillows, taking the book she'd grabbed from the counter out from under her arm and settling down next to the baby. "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish," she said, showing Ada the cover. "Red Fish," she repeated, pointing at the corresponding illustration. "Red. Blue fish…blue." She looked at Ada, who seemed interested, but not giving any signs that she understood. "Do you want me to read the book to you, Ada?" Penny asked.

"Heeeeeee," Ada responded, reaching a hand toward the book. Penny smiled and scooted down so her head wasn't too far above Ada's, curling her arm around the girl and opening the book. Her motion pulled her shirt up so the very top of her scar was visible. But Penny didn't care.

_Why does it matter where he got it? _Charlie's Grandpa Joe had said in the "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" movie. _Point is, he got it._

Finally, Penny was able to agree. It didn't matter in the slightest how Ada had gotten here.

Penny sighed as she began to read to the baby, wondering if Amy would ever know that she'd actually helped Penny fully realize that. And if she did ever know, Penny wondered if she'd care.


	28. The Ba Da Da Ploo Disagreement of July

**New chapter time! I've been working a lot, so haven't been able to update much. Same old, same old. **

**And if anyone's interested, Roxanne and I are recording our finale podcast tonight, so check the big bang buzz dot com this weekend to listen! /personal endorsement**

**Also, I only own the babies, as per usual.**

"Mommy," Savannah said, "when Thanksgiving gets here, does this mean that it's the holidays?"

"That would be a good question to ask your Uncle Sheldon," Penny said, picking up a turkey and placing it in the shopping cart.

"I haven't seen Uncle Sheldon in a Brazilian years," Savannah said, letting go of her mother's hand to inspect a sticker another child had left stuck to the side of the shelf.

"It's been four days," Penny said, "and you get back over here, Missy."

"And Brazilian isn't a number," Leonard said, reaching over, grabbing Savannah's hand with his free one, and getting her to follow her mother.

"Uncle Howie Wowie said it was," Savannah said. "And he has a mass degree."

"I'm pretty sure that was a joke," Leonard said. "And it's not a mass degree."

"Well, it's certainly not a height degree, am I right?" Penny said, giving a short laugh at her own joke.

Leonard and Savannah looked at her. Ada, from Leonard's arms, burst into giggles.

Penny pointed her tube of dinner roles at the brunette girl. "Avorite-fay ild-chay, little Nevada."

"Mommy's spakeing nonsense," Savannah said to Leonard in a stage whisper.

"Om-meh-meh-meh," Ada said thoughtfully.

"_Mmmma! Ma-ma-ma_," Penny said, still holding the cart, leaning over to put her face inches from Ada as she enunciated.

"Don't listen to her, Ada," Leonard said, turning his body so the baby's back was to her mother. "Da-da. Da-da."

"That sounds like absolute nonsense," Penny said. "Even if she says that first, there's no way of knowing that she's talking about you."

"Come on," Leonard said, "you already got Savvy, give me this one."

Penny would always be proud of the day Savannah said her first word. She'd brought her home from playing with Raj and Cinnamon, and the girl had been sad to leave the small dog behind. "We will see her again on another day, sweetie," she'd told her daughter.

Inside the apartment, Penny set Savannah down in her playpen and began to get dinner ready – her signature pasta dish – and left in the middle of the process to use the bathroom. While washing her hands, she heard a crash – and then a screech.

Running out into the living room, Penny saw that some pots had fallen from the counter and were the source of the terrific sound she'd heard in the bathroom. The other sound, also a result of the crash, was her little girl, leaning up against the side of the playpen that was farthest from the kitchen, her eyes wide, and her mouth wider as she screamed.

"Savvy," Penny said, using her best soothing tone, ran over and scooped the girl up. Savannah kept screaming, her little fists balled around Penny's shirt, her face buried in her mother's chest. Penny dropped to the floor and leaned against the wall, cradling the little girl close. "Soft kitty, warm kitty," Penny started, "little ball of fur…"

Sheldon would hate that Penny was using his sick song to comfort Savannah, but she figured it was better than him coming up there to yell about her crying. "Happy kitty, sleepy kitty, purr, purr, purr," she finished, relieved to see Savannah had calmed down a bit. Every new challenge she and Leonard were facing as new parents terrified her; she was always paranoid that she wouldn't know how to keep her children happy and safe, but one thing she could never doubt about Savannah was the baby's trust in her, the way she'd held out her arms when she saw her mother come toward her just moments ago, and the way she clung to her now. "It's okay, Savannah," Penny said, kissing the girl's head." "Mommy is right here. Mommy's not going to let the pans hurt you. Mommy's gonna hold you just like this."

"Mommy."

Penny froze, much like she had the first time Raj had spoken to her sober. Then she drew her daughter outward slightly, and looked at her. The girl looked up at her mother with her big eyes. "Did you say Mommy?" Penny asked. _Mommy_ wasn't a babble that could be misconstrued as a word but was in fact just a chance saying – like the Ba Ba Da Da Ploo Disagreement of July – but an actual, coherent word. "Mommy?" Penny said again.

Savannah put her hand up on Penny's mouth, still not looking entirely content, but no longer in a panic. "Mom…my."

"Oh my God," Penny said, pulling the baby back into her tight embrace. "Oh my God, Savannah."

"_Penny_!"

Penny jumped, shocked back into the present, and realized she was standing by an empty shopping cart, ten feet from their car. Leonard had the girls in their booster seats and was holding the passenger door open. "You wanna join us? Or did you want to be the second member of our group to spend some time in space?"

"I'm coming," Penny said. "I was just reminiscing, that's all."

* * *

"So question for you," Penny asked Leonard as they put the food away. Savannah was down in 4A making cookies with Raj and Missy, and Ada was asleep in her baby carrier, and she figured it was as good a time as any to have the conversation. "Would it be weird, or corny, if I wrote an email, or put a note in Amy's mailbox, saying I'm thankful for her? You know, on Thursday?"

"You're asking me if something would be weird?" Leonard asked. 'Is this a situation where if I think it's a good idea, you don't do it?"

Penny gave an amused smile. "I'm actually asking."

"That's tough," Leonard said. "You don't want to come across as trying too hard, or being condescending. But you don't want her to think you don't care."

"This is so hard, I've never been resented before," Penny said, looking down at the countertop. "Or, at least, by someone that I care about."

Leonard gave her a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry."

Penny shrugged. "It's just hard, you know?"

Leonard put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed her gently. "I know." He kissed her on the temple. "I'm sure Amy just needs some time. She…"

He broke off as Ada began to fuss. Penny put a hand on the one Leonard had on her shoulder before breaking away and picking up the baby. "Are you hungry, little girl?" Penny asked, the end of her sentence turning into a yawn.

"Here, let me feed her," Leonard said. "You're tired."

"And you don't have boobs," Penny said bluntly. "You insisting on feeding her last night and this morning means we're out of stuff in the fridge."

"We're still out?" Leonard asked, looking confused.

"I'm not a machine!" Penny said, pretending to be offended as she shed her shirt and kissed Ada's forehead before repositioning her. "So Leonard, my Amy problem, let's focus, here!"

"Right. Did you invite her to Thanksgiving?"

"Again, focus," Penny said. "Howard and Bernadette are doing Thanksgiving, I'm just making the turkey since Bernadette has to work. I have no idea if Shamy's coming, though. My guess is no."

"Well, maybe an email after the dinner, if they don't come? Just that you missed seeing her?"

Penny bit her lip. "I guess."

"Have you talked to Bernadette about this?" Leonard asked.

"A little," Penny said. "It's just…it's almost the Holidays. I don't want to drag everyone down with me. It's not Bernadette or Missy or Raj or Howard's fault that Amy resents me. It's not yours either, but you kinda come along with whatever goes on with me."

"And I'm happy to do that," Leonard said. "You know it."

She smiled. "I do. Leonard…" she trailed off. "I can't imagine us getting married without Amy there."

Leonard nodded. "Being completely honest…neither can I."


	29. The Unaired Pilot Allusion

**I wrote this over a period of three days, because I couldn't focus and had summer classes and my job to do. Hopefully next time I update it will be something I can type up in one go, because no matter what I do, this feels disjointed to me. But I can't pinpoint what's what with it, so I'm going with me being overly critical of myself.**

By the time that Bernadette, Penny, Missy, and Raj emerged from the kitchen to announce to Leonard, Howard, Gilda, Mark, and the girls that the meal was ready, it was clear that Sheldon and Amy would not be making an appearance.

Penny's dejected expression didn't go unnoticed among the group. While still in the kitchen, Raj put his arm around her sympathetically. "We just need to get through tonight," he said quietly. "For your girls. And if Missy and I come home upset, Cinnamon will sense it and not be able to sleep."

"I'll try to hold it all together for the dog," Penny said, managing a smile.

When they went to sit down, Gilda touched her arm as they passed, and once in their seats, Leonard quietly took her hand and kissed it.

Bernadette was opening her mouth to speak when Savannah blurted out "I can't have wine!" and Penny jumped up. "I'll get your milk," she said, bolting back into the kitchen. She opened the fridge, and exhaled deeply, dropping on her knees to the floor and putting her face in her hands.

"Oh, Penny."

Penny looked up, shaking her head at her friend. "Bernadette, I can't do this. I can't do it."

Bernadette dropped to the ground and put her arm around Penny's shoulders, and Penny tipped her head to rest against Bernadette's. "I know it hurts," Bernadette said. "But today is for what's going good in your life. What you're thankful for. You've got all of us, and your daughters…"

"My daughters," Penny said, sitting up and shaking her head. " I try so hard to not let them see me cry."

"They aren't seeing you," Bernadette said. "Look, they're eating. They're not looking over here. She glanced up at the shelves inside the fridge. "Penny…"

"I know," Penny said. "I'll be okay in a moment."

"That's good," Bernadette said. "But…the fridge is still open, and…"

"Oh, sorry," Penny said, giving a short laugh as she stood up and removed Savannah's sippy cup. She wiped her eyes and let out a deep sigh. "Time to smile and show Savannah how one gets a toothpaste commercial."

Bernadette smirked.

"Here's your milk, Savvy!" Penny said cheerfully, striding back into the room and handing it to her daughter. Savannah took the cup and put it to her lips.

"What do you say?" Leonard prompted.

Savannah swallowed. "Thank you Mommy," she said, grinning. Penny allowed her smile to remain another moment before sinking down beside Leonard, next to Ada's high chair, and letting out another quiet sigh.

"So," Missy said, sensing the false cheerfulness coming from the other end of the table, "Anyone feeling…particularly thankful for anything?"

"Easy there," Leonard hissed into Penny's ear as she gave Missy a dejected glare. "I, for one," Leonard said, "am thankful for my family." He shrugged. "Cliché, maybe, but…" he smiled to his left, looking at all three of his girls. "I am."

"I," Howard said, "am thankful for my correspondence with Stephen Hawking. He's planning another research trip, and he's dropped a few hints that suggest that it will be within my realm of expertise."

"Wow," Raj said, nodding. "That's amazing!"

"I was going to say I'm thankful for my husband," Bernadette said, giving Howard a mock glare, "but we've clearly shifted from the heartfelt topics to the career ones, so I got that big research grant last month. I'm pretty damn thankful for that."

"I'm not sure I like this change in topic," Raj said. "I haven't made a significant contribution to science in like four years."

"I'll change it back," Gilda said. "I'm thankful for the same thing I am every year – a chance to know all of you. When Leonard and my project didn't get the funding, we fell out of touch, and now years later, not only am I friends again with one of the only people that saw things in the same way I did all those years ago, I'm friends with his fiancé, my daughter is friends with theirs, and I know all of their friends." She smiled. "Not getting to work on that project was hard for me, especially when Leonard's career took off without me. But I really do like how everything turned out. And in the past year, I've fully realized that it's better this way. That project would have meant I wasn't in Florida the winter that I met Mark."

Mark leaned over and kissed Gilda on the cheek. "I'm glad your project fell through."

"Aww," Penny said, smiling at them and then looking at Leonard.

"Would you have met Mommy?" Savannah asked.

The entire group turned to look at Savannah, surprised that a five year old was able to comprehend what Gilda had said. Leonard bit his lip and tapped his fingers on the table before answering. "I'd like to think that Mommy and I would have met no matter what," he said. Savannah smiled and took a bite of turkey.

Leonard and Penny exchanged a look, both knowing full well that that answer had been given for Savannah's benefit only. "And what are you thankful for, Savvy?" Penny asked.

Savannah looked suddenly shy. "Friends," she said quietly, looking at the floor.

"Friends like Iris?" Leonard asked.

Savannah nodded. "And Ada, and Mommy and Daddy." She looked up. "Why isn't Uncle Sheldon and Aunt Amy here?"

"Why _aren't_ Uncle Sheldon and Aunt Amy here," Gilda corrected gently.

"Not now, Gilda!" Penny and Leonard said at the same time. Iris giggled.

"Are Uncle Sheldon and Aunt Amy not thankful for us?" Savannah asked, her lower lip trembling.

"Uncle Sheldon and Aunt Amy don't love us?" Iris asked, her eyes wide. She dropped out of her chair to the floor, and began to cry.

At Iris crying, Savannah lost it, her face crumpling and tears leaking out. She grabbed her mother's arm and pushed her face into Penny's sleeve. Ada, in her high chair next to Penny, began to wiggle, looking like she was about to cry any minute. Howard jumped up and pulled her out of the high chair, trying to prevent the baby from seeing the crying older children.

Penny stood up and picked up Savannah, pushing the girl's head under her neck so the girl couldn't see that Penny, too, was on the edge. Leonard, upon seeing that Howard was bouncing Ada back to tranquility, came up in front of Penny and put his arms around her, their daughter, still in Penny's arms, sandwiched in the middle. Penny dug her chin into Leonard's shoulder and squeezed her eyes shut so her crying daughter, spurred on by Iris's own cries, wouldn't realize that her mother wasn't holding her close to comfort her, but to prevent her from becoming more upset by realizing that Penny was just as concerned about how Sheldon and Amy felt as the little girls were.

There was always that short note Penny had slipped under 4A's door.


	30. Hide And Go Speak

**So I took a break from my homework to polish up this chapter and publish it because I got a couple guest reviews asking me if I'd abandoned this story. As I've previously mentioned, I'm working full time and I'm taking classes. I do not have time to update regularly; real life is more important, as much as I love doing this. I've written over 140 fanfics since late 2009 and I've never abandoned one, and now is no different. But at least for another month, I simply can't be churning out fic every other day. I apologize, and it sucks on my end as well, but my classes are what I have to focus on on my day off.**

**Feel free to follow my Fanfic account on Twitter, WBTP_Fanfiction, for updates.**

"Sheldon!" Penny said excitedly when she ran into him unlocking his apartment door.

He turned and gave a slightly uncomfortable smile. "Hello, Penny."

"How are you guys?" she asked hesitantly. "How's Amy?"

"We're well, thank you for asking," he said formally, shifting his weight slightly.

"Did you, uh…" Penny hesitated, shifting her bag of groceries to her other arm, "did you guys get my note?"

"We did," Sheldon said. "Thank you. It was very nice."

"Did Amy read it?"

Sheldon hesitated. "She was the one that found it, so I would assume that she read it, yes. We didn't speak about it."

"So, I take it she's still angry with me, then?" Penny asked. "Has it cooled off any? You know…with time?"

"Penny, I don't think that you understand something very important here," Sheldon said slowly. "Amy…Amy isn't angry with you."

"Sheldon, I think I'm a pretty good judge of why…"

"Penny, please. Let me speak." Sheldon held a hand up to silence her. "Amy was hurt, yes, but she knows you weren't doing it maliciously. It's not a matter of her forgiving you…she just doesn't want to be around you. She feels it's unfair that she cannot have children, and you are a living example of a woman who can. And she's been reminded time and time again of that. It's just like someone avoiding going to a movie theater that doesn't have blue ices, or avoiding vacationing in an area that has unfavorable weather. She doesn't want to hang out with you, so she's staying away."

"What about Savannah and Iris?" Penny asked, folding her arms, hoping her protectiveness of those girls could hide how much Sheldon's words hurt. _At least if she was still angry at me, I could fix it…_

"What do you mean?"

"I mean those girls…" she shook her head, her voice cracking. "Those girls love you, Sheldon Lee Cooper. They love you and they love Amy and they might even love you two more than Leonard and I do and you know damn well how much that's saying."

She and Sheldon stared each other down for several seconds more before Penny turned and marched up the stairs. Too many people had seen her cry recently. She wasn't about to add Sheldon to the list.

* * *

"So I was texting Bernadette today," Penny said, "and she had to go really abruptly to talk to Howard. Is something wrong?"

"Yeeeeeah," Leonard said. "Sort of."

Penny cocked her head. "What's going on?"

"Remember at Thanksgiving when Howard said Hawking might be bringing him along on another research project?"

"Oooh," Penny said. "He didn't get it?"

Leonard sighed. "I did."

Penny raised her eyebrows. "Wow. Even after that little incident last time?"

Leonard smirked. "I guess so."

"Okay," Penny said, nodding slowly, "when are you leaving?"

Leonard closed his eyes briefly. "Penny, I'm not taking it."

"Come on, Leonard, you've done this before. It's not like you're going away for two years." When he didn't respond immediately, Penny's eyes widened ."He wants to take you away for two years!"

"No no no no," Leonard said. "It's just another three months. But last time that happened, we didn't have the girls. There's no way I'm leaving our five year old and ten month old for three months."

"We'd be okay," Penny said. "We've got Mark and Gilda, and Howard and Bernadette…"

"Penny," Leonard said, "if another opportunity comes up when the girls are a little older, then I'll be sure to take advantage of it. But it's not a good move right now." He touched her cheek. "Plus, the next time I leave for any period of time, I'd like to be married to you."

Penny smiled. "I'd like that, too. But you're absolutely sure?"

"Leaving never crossed my mind," he said. "Things are different from the last time."

"Daddy?" came a voice from the hallway.

Leonard's face broke into a grin. "See?" He turned. "Hey there, sweetheart, what's going on with you?"

"Are you and Mommy done talking?"

Leonard glanced at Penny. "I think so. Do you want to play a game?"

"Hide en go speak?"

"Sure, we can play hide and seek," Leonard said.

"Mommy?"

"Yes, I'll play too," Penny said. "But if Ada wakes up and cries, I don't lose for getting up to take care of her, okay?"

"Otay," Savannah said, nodding. "I will count first. I can count to eleventy five."

"Wow," Leonard said. "That's very impressive. How about just ten, though?"

"And we gotta stay inside the apartment this time," Penny said. "No running downstairs and hiding by the mailboxes."

Savannah put her hands on her hips. "I didn't talk to strangers!"

"Nevertheless," Leonard said. "We're gonna stay here."

In response, Savannah put her hands over her eyes. "One, two, three…"

Penny and Leonard jumped up and ran down the hall, then, as Leonard disappeared into the master bedroom, Penny doubled back and leaped over the couch. She nearly landed on one of Savannah's stuffed animals, so she took the final second to throw it across the room.

Savannah was distracted by the teddy bear hitting the floor, and suspiciously eyed the kitchen. She finally made her way down to the bedroom, and several seconds after that there was the delighted shriek that announced to Penny that Leonard had been found. The shriek also signaled to Ada that something must be horribly wrong. Penny stood up, holding her hands in the timeout symbol as Savannah skipped out, pulling Leonard behind her by the hand. Penny smiled at them as she slipped into the room and picked up the younger girl. "Shhh, baby," she said, bouncing Ada in her arms. "Shhh baby baby."

Ada was calming down as Savannah burst into the room and threw the closet door open. "Close it, close it!" she said excitedly, and Penny shifted Ada to one arm so she could shut Savannah in. It wouldn't be long before Leonard found her. Savannah wasn't good at hide and seek.

Just under thirty seconds later, Leonard opened the door and gave Penny a smirk. "I'm looking for Savannah," he said in a teasing voice. "Is Savannah in Ada's crib?"

Penny felt a smile coming over her face even before the giggly voice said "noooo…"

Leonard stopped and folded his arms. "Is Savannah under the bed?"

"Noooo."

"Is Savannah in the box of toys?"

"Noooo."

"Is Savannah in the closet?"

Nothing.

Penny kissed the top of Ada's head to stifle her laughter. Leonard grinned and walked toward the closet, throwing it open. "There you are!"

Savannah burst into uncontrollable giggles. Leonard leaned over and picked her up. "Daddy found you!"

Penny laughed along with them. "Well, she _does_ call it Hide and Go Speak."


	31. Baby Mine, Dangerous Boys, and Omaha

**It's finally over! My summer schoolwork, of course, not this fic! This fic is…I don't want to say "far form over" but definitely not in the last couple chapters as of yet. Now I'll finally be able to update more regularly!**

December twenty third. How Leonard had expected them to be able to successfully navigate an airport two days before Christmas with a five year old and ten month old, neither of which had ever flown before, was beyond Penny. But in her fiance's defense, she hadn't thought anything wrong with the travel plans until they'd arrived at the airport and her lovely youngest daughter, who despite having spent her entire life in L.A. was unaccustomed to crowds, started screaming.

"Shhhhh, honey, shhhh," Penny said, bouncing the girl up and down and reaching for the pacifier, which Ada had dropped and was now hanging by the ribbon that was sewed to the front of her sweater.

"I'm hungry," Savannah said, jerking on Leonard's hand.

"We ate before we came to the airport," Leonard told her.

"_I want the food here!" _Savannah said, pouting.

Penny was turning bright red as people looked toward the screeching sound that was coming from her arms. "Ada Ada Ada," she said in her best Mommy voice, trying to get the terrified girl to relax, "it's okay, you're okay, we're all right here. Us and many other people. This is LAX. It's a good place."

"She's not listening to you," Savannah said, looking up at her mother. "Daddy, I want food!"

"Hey, you listen to me," Leonard said, sitting down in one of the chairs by the self check in. Savannah tried to jerk her hand out of his, but he pulled her close to him. "Listen to me, Missy," he said sternly. Savannah stood quietly. "Savvy, what did we say about looking at the person talking to you?"

Penny supposed that by that logic she wasn't supposed to be watching Leonard talk to their oldest but look at the screaming baby in her arms. She continued to bounce Ada up and down, wondering if tickling would help or just stress the infant out even more.

"Savannah," Leonard was saying to the five year old, "I know your sister is being loud right now, crying and all, but that doesn't give you the excuse to throw a tantrum." Savannah jerked her hand out of Leonard's and folded her arms across her chest. Penny was momentarily floored at how much of herself she saw in that kid.

"You are Nevada's big sister," Leonard was saying. "You have to show her how to act. Right now she's making Mommy tired. Why don't you help make Mommy feel better by listening to what we tell you?"

Savannah cocked her head. "Am I in trouble?"

"Nope," Leonard said. "Not yet."

She looked up at her mother almost shyly. "Okay."

"That's my good girl," Penny said. She turned her full attentions back to Ada. "Sweetie, don't be scared, I know it's a lot of people, but look." She sat down next to Leonard and let the baby see her father and sister. "We're all here, baby baby girl." She cuddled the scared child to her and bent her head next to the girl's ear. "Baby mine, don't you cry," she sang softly. "Baby mine, dry your eyes. Rest your head close to my heart, never to part, baby of mine."

Savannah pulled herself up onto the chair next to Penny. "Little one, when you play," she sang in a very typical five year old voice, much louder than Penny had, "Don-cha mind what they say. Let those eyeses sparkle and shine, never a tear, baby of mine."

"From your head to your toes," Penny sang, and Leonard leaned over, put his chin on her shoulder, and a hand behind Ada's head. The girl was focusing on them, not the public address system, not the noise from the holiday crowds. "You're so sweet, goodness knows," they sang together. Savannah cuddled up on Penny's other side. "You are so precious to me, cute as can be, baby of mine."

"Mommy, she's not crying anymore," Savannah said in a stage whisper.

"Hopefully she'll go to sleep," Penny said, rocking Ada as the girl's eyes closed momentarily before opening them again and wiggling in her mother's arms.

"Hopefully she'll sleep on the flight," Leonard said. "We wouldn't want her throwing her toy and knocking a guy's drink into his lap."

"Well, we'd probably be more apologetic than Gilda and Mark were when Iris did that," Penny said. "Didn't they not even apologize?"

"Gilda said they tried, but were laughing too hard."

"Did you sing that song to me when I was a baby?" Savannah asked.

"What song?" Leonard asked, momentarily forgetting what they'd just been doing.

Savannah frowned. "Baby Mine!"

"We actually sang the one from Tarzan to you a lot," Penny said. "You know, the one Kala sang to Tarzan his first night with her?"

"Oh," Savannah said, smiling. "Mommy, is Ada not crying now because I'm not crying and I'm a mole model?"

"Role model," Penny said. "You're not a mammal."

"I was thinking mole as in the chemistry term," Leonard said, and then frowned. "Humans are mammals."

"Right," Penny said, shaking her head. "Yep, warm blooded, live young…" She looked down at her youngest, who was starting to look upset again. "And mammary glands, which I think need to get put to use before we get on this plane. Savannah, stay with your father."

Savannah moved across the now empty seat to sit next to Leonard. "Are you excited to see Grandma and Grampa?" Leonard asked her, sliding his arm around the girl.

She grabbed both of his hands. "Yes, Daddy." She looked out the window. "Does the plane go fast?"

"Yes," Leonard said. "But you won't be able to tell. It should be a smooth ride. We'll be in Omaha before you know it."

* * *

"Grampa!" Savannah shrieked, jumping away from Penny and running the short distance to jump into Wyatt's arms. The older man spun her around theatrically, and kissed her loudly on the cheek. "How's my big girl?" he asked her, holding her tightly.

"Dad, your heart," Penny said.

"If anything happens to my heart today, it's going to be overwhelmed at how happy I am to see you kids, not picking up my granddaughter," he said firmly, putting Savannah down and hugging his daughter. "Was the flight fairly uneventful?"

"Fairly," Penny said. "Surprisingly, it was a ten year old boy that caused the most disruption, not either of ours."

"That's not surprising. Boys are bad. Keep your girls away from them as long as possible," he said, only half joking. "Now, where is this new little one I haven't gotten to meet beyond Skype?"

"Here she is," Leonard said, turning Ada toward Wyatt. "Ada, this is Grampa."

To Penny's absolute delight, Ada, who had been nervous throughout the flight, broke into a big smile at the sight of her grandfather. Wyatt took her from Leonard and the baby settled right into his arms as if she knew exactly who he was.

"Well, isn't she the sweetest thing since Savvy," Wyatt said, sparing a hand momentarily to ruffle Savannah's hair. The girl grinned up at him. "And Leonard," he said. "It's good to see you again, son."

"It's good to see you too," Leonard said, smiling at him.

"How's your folks?" he asked.

"Not bad," Leonard said. "My father's in Africa for the year, and my mother's working with a couple of PhD students. How they're spending so much time with her is beyond me, but she's calling us to talk to Savannah almost every week."

"Good to hear, good to hear," Wyatt said, smiling. "Well, let's get you guys home. Grandma's making food."


	32. Better Than North Dakota

**New update time! And feel free to check out my new multi-chapter fic, "It All Started With A Big Beep" if you haven't already.**

Penny's mom gave the little family the same warm welcome that Wyatt had, hugging her daughter and Leonard and fussing over Ada before picking Savannah up and swinging her around, Wyatt standing off to the side mumbling about how no one was reminding his wife about _her_ heart.

"I have an amazing supper for you," she said to them. "Your father is very excited about it."

"First bit of real food she's cooked me in months," Wyatt said.

"I'm keeping your ticker working the way it should," his wife said. "If you want to miss out on these grandchildren of yours, then you cook what you want yourself."

"I want chicken nuggets," Savannah said.

"And you shall have them, baby girl," Penny's mother said, bending down and putting her hands on the girl's cheeks so she could kiss her forehead. "Because Grandma loves you so very much." She looked at Leonard. "Leonard, darling, give me that baby!"

Leonard passed Ada to her grandmother, and the woman held her up. "Do you remember Grandma?"

"You just had her two minutes ago," Wyatt grumbled.

"Simba!" Savannah said.

All four adults looked at her. "What, sweetie?" Penny asked.

Savannah giggled, pointing at the way her grandmother was holding Ada. "Simba!"

The laughter among everyone – Savannah and Ada included, increased when Wyatt spread his arms and began singing Circle of Life.

"Dad, Dad, Dad," Penny said, going over and trying to cover his mouth. He swatted her away.

"Stick to your day job, Wyatt," his wife said.

"Nevada thinks it's funny," Wyatt protested.

"She's just laughing because the rest of us are laughing," Penny said, looking fondly at her younger daughter. "Aren't you?" she asked, extending her pointer finger to touch the top of Ada's hand. The baby grabbed on and squeezed. Penny smiled and leaned over to kiss Ada on the head.

"Penny, sweetheart," her mother said then, "you have no idea how much it means to us that you guys are here for Christmas. With your sister and her family in North Dakota…"

"_North Dakota?_" Leonard said, remembering a joke Penny had told years ago. It had fallen completely flat in L.A., but her parents roared in laughter at the mere reference of the state with a hint of disgust behind it. He raised his eyebrows in surprise, and Penny grinned approvingly.

"We don't understand it either, son," Wyatt said, "but they've been there three weeks and won't be back until April. I try not to judge, but…" he shook his head.

"And with your brother in rehab too far away for your father to travel…" the older woman shook her head. "We were going to be pretty lonely around here. But now we have our wonderful younger daughter," she smiled at Leonard, "our future son – in – law, and their two beautiful babies to spend the holiday with." She looked over at Wyatt. "What did these two old people do to deserve this?"

"I can tell you what you did," Wyatt said. "You made us this meal that's about to get cold."

* * *

After dinner, Savannah tugged on Wyatt's sleeve. "Grampa. Do you have balls?"

Two years ago Leonard and Penny would have smirked at her question. But they'd grown accustomed to Savannah saying things that she'd hear a lot differently a decade down the road. "Savannah," Penny said, "did you remember to bring the ball you and Ada play with?"

Savannah looked upset. "No. That's why I ask Grampa."

"What kind, sweetie?" Wyatt said.

"Like…" Savannah used her hands to indicate. "Like this. This big, and not heavy like _oof_!" she dropped to the ground to demonstrate how she'd fall if she had to hold something heavy. "But not like it won't go anyplace."

"She means like…" Leonard started.

Wyatt smiled and held up a hand to silence him. "I raised three of these little buggers, and I got another grandchild." He disappeared down the hall and returned moments later with a yellowed sphere that looked like a miniature volleyball. "How's this, sweet pea?"

Savannah dropped the ball to the ground and watched it bounce. "Yes."

"What do you – " Leonard started, but Savannah was already thanking Wyatt. She came over to where Ada was laying on the carpet and sat down in front of her. "Ball," Savannah said, holding it up. "Ball. Ball."

"Is that little munchkin trying to teach Ada how to talk?" Wyatt asked, sitting down next to Penny and Leonard on the couch.

"She hears us trying to get her to say our names," Leonard said. "And so every time she shows Ada something, she repeats it."

"She still ain't talking, though," Wyatt said.

"She's getting there," Penny said. "Soon."

Savannah rolled the ball toward Ada, intentionally having it go to the right. Ada squealed and crawled across the floor; upon reaching the ball, she laughed and curled her body around it. Savannah ran over, fell to the floor, and began tickling the little girl to get her to let go.

"Naaaaaaa!" Ada protested.

"We think she's trying to say 'not fair'," Penny said to her father. That's what Savannah always says if we tickle her while playing.

Savannah got the ball away and held it up, just out of Ada's reach. Ada grabbed the end of the chair next to her and pulled herself to her feet, batting the ball out of her sister's hand. Savannah ran after it, and Ada looked around, then looked toward her parents and started to cry.

"She doesn't know how to sit back down yet," Leonard said as Penny went over to ease the baby back onto her bottom. Ada stopped crying and looked toward Savannah for the ball.

The girl was staring at the ball and muttering to herself, looking intently at the object in her hands. "Sometimes she talks to stuff," Penny said. "Ever since you gave her that talking football stuffed animal, she talks to different objects, trying to figure out what will answer back."

"Savvy," Leonard said, "what were you saying to the ball?"

"I was talking to myself," Savannah said. "The ball doesn't answer me."

"What were you saying?" Wyatt asked.

"I don't know," Savannah told him. "I wasn't listening."

Penny burst out laughing. Ada looked over at her mother and then started laughing too.


	33. Husker and Ed

**And I am back from vacation and back in writing mode! Still working full time, and will be going on another trip in a few weeks, but between now and then expect some updating!**

Penny hadn't realized how badly she had needed to return to where she'd grown up with Leonard and her children in tow. She hadn't been there since she was pregnant with Savannah, and it had been a long five years since she'd walked through their long backyard out to the barns, where the cows wintered and the couple of horses snorted in disgust at being trapped inside. Holding Savannah's hand so the girl wouldn't slip on the ice, Penny led her inside and lifted the girl up so she could see over the stall door.

A pregnant cow lifted her head from her feed and regarded them calmly. "Cow!" Savannah shrieked, clapping her hands.

Penny lowered the girl and turned her so they were face to face. "Savvy," Penny said, "what did I tell you about the loud voices?" Savannah didn't respond. "Did I tell you that might scare or upset the animals?"

"Yes," Savannah said. She put her finger to her lips. "Shhhhh."

Penny repeated the motion. "Good girl." She picked her daughter up again and let her rest her hands on the stall door as she peered in to see the animal.

"I'm sorry, cow," Savannah whispered.

"You don't have to whisper," Penny said, "if you don't want to. Just talk normally."

"Is that cow going to have a baby?" Savannah asked.

"Yes," Penny said. "Soon."

"I noticed because her belly is fat like yours was before Ada."

"Are you calling me fat?" Penny asked, feigning offense.

Savannah giggled.

"Do you want to see the horses?" Penny asked.

"Can we ride them?"

"Not today," Penny said. "It's very cold outside." She put Savannah on her hip and walked down to the end of the barn. "Hey there Husker," she said quietly to the animal inside.

Savannah gasped. "He's so big!"

"He's pretty big," Penny said. She shifted Savannah so she had a free hand and extended it to the big chestnut. "Come here, Husker."

The horse put his head over the stall door and Savannah leaned away slightly into Penny. Penny backed up a step. "You okay?"

The girl nodded, so Penny resumed petting Husker's forehead. "You can touch him, baby girl," Penny told her, and the child reached out and patted Husker on the face. "He's so soft!" she said in a stage whisper.

"Pet his nose," Penny said. "Down here where he's darker colored. He won't bite you." Savannah still looked apprehensive. "I promise he won't bite you," Penny said. "He's been here fifteen years and he ain't bit anyone yet." Raising her eyebrows slightly at her slip into vernacular, Penny looked at her daughter. "Go ahead."

Savannah put her hand between Husker's nostrils, and her eyes got wide. "He's even softer here!"

"Uh-huh," Penny said. "Do you want to see the other horse? I think you'll like him."

"Yes," her daughter said. She smiled. "Bye bye, Husker!"

Penny did a one eighty and stepped to the stall across the aisle. "This is Ed," she said.

Savannah squealed – just quietly enough that Penny didn't chide her. "He's got spots!"

"He's an Appaloosa," Penny said. "Some of them have spots all over their body, but he's solid brown except for the top of his butt. They call that a 'blanket'."

She giggled. "Why would you just have a blanket on your butt?"

"Silly girl," Penny said, "it's not an _actual_ blanket."

"Come here, Ed!" Savannah said, stretching out her arms. The horse lifted his head from his hay and turned, pointing his nose at his left shoulder. "Why is he doing that?" Savannah asked.

"To see us better," Penny said. "He is blind in his right eye. We call him Pollard sometimes because there was a man who rode horses in races that was blind in an eye."

"Why is his name Ed then?" Savannah asked as the horse returned to eating.

"He was named after his first owner's grampa," Penny said. "They didn't know he was blind at first."

"What kind of horse is Husker?"

"Quarter Horse."

After a few more minutes, Savannah said she had to go to the bathroom. "I'll let you go back to the house by yourself if you promise to go slow and watch for ice," Penny said.

"I wish there was snow."

"It's supposed to snow tonight," Penny told her. "So we might have a white Christmas. Now go like a big girl."

She watched Savannah maneuver the icy spot like she'd been doing it her whole life, and then run the rest of the way back to the farmhouse. Penny smiled proudly, and then went back inside to feed the cows as her father had asked. When she returned to the house, she found her parents, Leonard, and the girls in the living area. Her mother had the old guitar that she could only sort of play, and she and Wyatt were singing the song about the feather bed.

_It was nine feet high, six feet wide, soft as a downy chick. It was made from the feathers of forty 'leven geese, took a whole bolt of cloth for the tick._

Penny came in and sat down next to Leonard, who was smiling at Savannah, holding Ada in her lap and trying to sing along. Penny grabbed his hand and joined in with her parents and oldest daughter.

_It could hold eight kids, four hound dogs, and a piggy we stole from the shed. Didn't get much sleep but we had a lot of fun on Grandma's feather bed._

When the song was over, Penny's mother put the guitar down, smiling, and looked at Leonard. "So, how is that old roommate of yours?"

"Crazy as usual," Leonard said. "We haven't seen much of him lately, he and his wife have some things they need to work out."

"They fighting?" Wyatt asked.

"Dad, you're so nosy," Penny said.

"Must be where you get it from," Leonard teased. "But no, they're not fighting, it's not like that. Just some husband and wife stuff."

"I'm surprised that boy got married," Wyatt said. "But Amy's quite the girl."

"Yeah," Penny said quietly. "Yeah, she is."

"She loves him," Leonard said. "She understands him, which is really essential. I've known him for almost twenty years and still don't know what he's thinking half the time."

Penny blinked. "You know what he's thinking _half the time_?"

Leonard laughed.

"You're pretty good friends with Amy, Penny," her mother said. "Isn't that right?"

"Well," Penny said after a bit of silence, "I wish that were the case."

There was another period of silence. Leonard put his arm around Penny.

Wyatt cleared his throat loudly. "Who is up for another sing along?" He looked at his wife, who picked up the guitar, and then smiled at his grandchildren. "Kids, I bet you know this one."


	34. Probably In A Different Way

**New chapter! I had this one partially written and I'm feeling guilty at not updating, so you get two in a row!**

**For the reviewer concerned that I'm not moving the Penny/Amy thing along, I appreciate your concern, and you didn't sound harsh. I've touched on it in almost every chapter since the blow up, but in real life, things don't work out quickly. Sometimes it's only realistic for two characters to give each other space. The Hofstadters (and Penny) need the time away that they're having at her parents'; however, this trip is directly influencing the last quarter of the fic, so it's not just a fluffy event I'm throwing in – from my initial planning of this fic in late 2012, this visit has been something of a catalyst for the ending of the fic, and you get the start of that in this chapter. We're getting there, and you don't have to wait all that much longer. It's not like TPA where it took Penny forty four chapters to get pregnant, that's for sure! :)**

* * *

Ada's first Christmas wasn't much different from Savannah's. Like her sister at that age, she was more interested in the wrapping paper than her actual gifts, and sticking as many of the bows as possible to Leonard and her grandmother.

"Do you like your big stuffed horsey?" Wyatt asked, sitting down next to Savannah, who understood that the present was what waited inside the colorful paper.

"Yes," she said. "Thank you, Grampa." She stood up and leaned over, kissing Wyatt on the cheek, and then smiled at him.

"You're such a polite little girl," Wyatt said, touching her nose. "Now what did you bring for me?"

"Does Santa not like you?" she asked, looking confused.

"Savvy," Penny said. "Get the red present under the tree. It's from you and Ada."

Savannah looked confused, but found the present her mother mentioned and brought it to Wyatt. "Gloves!" he said, holding both pairs up. "I hope these purple ones are for you, dear."

"Purple for Grandma, brown for Grampa," Savannah said, as if she had actually bought them herself.

"Thank you, sweetheart," her grandmother said.

"Savannah, put your presents over by Daddy and then look out the window." Penny said. Savannah started over to the couch, and Penny cleared her throat. The girl went to retrieve her gifts and set them by Leonard before standing on the couch and looking outside. She squealed. "Snow!"

"She's never seen snow, has she?" Wyatt asked.

Leonard shook his head. "Not in person."

"Can we go outside?" Savannah asked.

"Put on your other sweatshirt," Penny said. "You don't have a winter coat. I did buy you mittens."

"I got it," Leonard said. "Come with me, Savannah banana."

"I'll pick up the wrapping paper," Penny said, taking Ada from Leonard and setting her on the overstuffed chair.

"So Penny," Wyatt said. "Have you and Leonard given any thought to a date?"

"Well, you know, we don't want it to be a huge wedding," Penny said, "so there's not a huge need to book a fan place two years in advance. We'll do it this spring sometime."

"If you're not set on a certain place or time, why don't you do it here?" her mother asked. "I don't mean today," she clarified. "But you'll be here another week or so, and that way your father could be there…"

"Woman, a plane won't kill me," Wyatt protested.

"I…I don't know," Penny said. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I would _love_ for you guys to be there, and if doing it in Omaha makes that happen, then that's what we'll do. But…" she shrugged. "I don't know about doing it this week. Stuff's complicated."

"Amy?" Her mother asked.

Penny let out a breath. "She won't even talk to me. She can't have kids and she resents me for it. And I almost blame myself for her resentment even though it's not my fault I could have these girls. But I can't blame her…" she shrugged. "Amy has always sort of been…"

"Infatuated with you," Leonard said, coming back with a fully dressed Savannah.

"Really invested in our friendship," Penny finished. "And I don't need her to find the ground I walk on holy or anything, but I'd love for us to be on an equal playing field. She won't speak to me and that's hard."

"Who?" Savannah asked.

"No one," Penny told her. "Go and play in the snow with Daddy. Try not to fall on your face," she said to Leonard.

"I grew up where there's snow!" he protested. She grinned at him.

"Have you tried talking to Amy?" Wyatt asked. "I mean, when a cow is pissed at you, you give it food and it forgets you were the one who set up the electric fence."

"I've texted her, I've pleaded with Sheldon, I think he understands…which is something I'd never thought I'd say…" she shrugged. "I feel like that high schooler who holds on too long and gets her heartbroken. But Amy's not a boy, she's my best friend."

"Oh, this brings back memories," her mother said, sitting down on the floor next to her daughter and putting her arm around her. "You sad about your friends and telling me about it. Only this time you're not doing it to make me feel bad for you and give you more allowance."

That made Penny smile. "I would choose you guys over Amy," she promised her parents. "But I can't imagine marrying Leonard without her there."

* * *

"Have you ever had sex in a hayloft?" Penny asked Leonard after they'd put Savannah and Ada to bed and headed up to their room.

"No," he said. "But you know learning is a passion of mine."

"Well it's like, you're sleeping with someone, so good, but sometimes the hay will jab you in the back or arm or stomach and that's just annoying."

"Is this about to turn into a metaphor?" Leonard asked.

"Sort of," Penny said. "Let me tell you, I've come out of piles of hay with the most amazing marks…not important." She sat down on the bed. "I want to marry you."

"Well that's a relief."

"Hush." She grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. "I want to marry you, and sooner rather than later. But the thought of Amy not being at the wedding…" she sighed. "I needed this trip, Leonard. I needed to get away, and I needed the girls to see my parents. But it's just made me realize that I can't go on like this. I need Amy in my life. And since Amy's gone, so is Sheldon. Remember when we couldn't go a day without seeing them?"

"Yes," Leonard said. "Back when I lived with one of them and acted as his personal chauffeur."

"And I was backup for you!" Penny said, and they smiled fondly at the memory. "Leonard, so much has changed. And I know a lot of it is good. And if I could go back and give up my children to keep Amy in my life, there's no way in Hell I'd do it. Maybe I'm selfish for wanting her and them. But I can't help it."

"You're not selfish for wanting to hang on to a friend after you have kids," Leonard said, sitting down next to her and lying flat on his back. "I miss Sheldon, and I miss Amy. But what can we do?"

"So we shouldn't do anything?" Penny asked.

"That wasn't a hypothetical," Leonard said. "I mean literally, _what can we do_? We've reached out, and gotten nothing in return. And we've kept our distance, waiting for them to miss us, and who knows if that's happened."

"I feel so powerless," Penny said.

"Hey," Leonard said, rolling onto his side and tugging her closer. "You've got lots of control. Those girls worship you. And if you want to make Savvy idolize you even more than she already does, put her on one of those horses tomorrow in front of you. That euphoria might carry into her teenage years and keep her and us at a equal level."

"But Mom, I want to date him! Remember when I let you ride a horse?" Penny laughed. "I can see it now."

"That's exactly how it's going to work," Leonard said, sounding completely serious. "Just enjoy the rest of this vacation, Penny. If we want to get married here, we can come back for it. But we can't wait around on Amy forever."

Penny sighed, wiggling into a new position, so her forehead touched Leonard's. "I know. I know you're right. Since when did you become voice of reason?"

"When were you voice of reason?"

"Point taken. Just...let me try her some more when we get home, and if nothing comes of it, give me a bit of time to get used to the idea that she may really be out of our lives."

"She won't be," Leonard said, kissing her. "She loves you near as much as I do."

Penny dropped her voice to mimic Howard. "But probably in a different way."

Leonard chuckled. "So, about sex in the hayloft…"

"I think your asthma would kill you before foreplay finished."

"You know I have this pathetic obsessive need to make sure we've done all the stuff you've done with your past boyfriends."

She giggled. "We'll see how early the kids sleep tomorrow."

* * *

**Don't forget I love reviews! And also, don't forget that if you ask me a question in a guest review, I can't reply.**


	35. Evil Genius

**I'm not going to even say I fail at updating because real life just completely took control and I can never find time to write stuff out. So all I'll say is here's the next chapter. We're officially into the last part of the fic. It's not almost over, but things will change after this.**

"Mommy," Savannah said. "Can you help me ride a horse?"

"Ah, sneaky thing," Wyatt said from where he was fixing the lock on the back door.

Penny was on the couch nursing Ada. "Why are you a sneaky thing, Sav-tastic?"

"Because she…"

"Grampa! Shhh!" Savannah said.

"Well, now I have to know," Penny said. "And if you don't tell me, Savannah, Grampa will."

"I asked Daddy to take me on a horse and he said no," she folded her arms and pouted.

"Did he now?" Penny asked. Ada pulled back and craned her head around. Penny set the girl on her lap and buttoned her shirt.

"Is it possible he said 'Savannah, I don't know anything about your grandparents' horses?" Penny's mom asked as she entered the room.

"I'll put you up in front of me on one of them a little later today, okay?" Penny asked.

Savannah squealed and jumped up on the couch. "Can we go fast?"

Penny ruffled her daughter's hair. "It's icy out there. You'll find walking plenty fast enough."

"Wear a helmet," said the older woman, smiling as she picked up Ada and turned to leave the room.

Penny dramatically rolled her eyes, as she had done as a teen. "Yes, mother."

* * *

Penny had to do a lot of encouraging to get Husker to step out into the bright sunlight, intensified by the snow. "Come on, boy," Penny said. "We're not going to do anything crazy. I'm out of practice, anyway."

Husker let out what would have been a dramatic sigh had he been human, and followed her outside. "Alright, Savvy," she said, and the girl, grinning, came over, tugging at Wyatt's hand. Penny, though she hadn't done it in years, took a handful of his mane in her hand and jumped, hooking her right leg over his back and wiggling into place.

Wyatt raised his eyebrows. "You can still do that."

"Apparently," she said, not completely unsurprised herself. She shifted her weight on Husker's bare back and held her arms out to Wyatt. He picked Savannah up and handed her to her mother, and Penny positioned the girl in front of her.

Savannah stiffened. "He's really big."

"I got you, baby girl," Penny said, curling her left arm around the girl's stomach and holding the reins in her right. She clicked to Husker, and he turned his head, gave her a reproachful stare, and then began walking forward. "You okay?" She asked her daughter, leaning over her shoulder.

Savannah looked up at Penny. "Yes."

"Good." She smiled when she saw her mother and Leonard come out of the house, the latter with Ada all bundled up. "Hey guys!" she said.

Leonard's eyebrows were raised. "Hey."

"Uh oh," Savannah said at the sight of her father. Penny almost burst out laughing.

"You want to do something cool?" she asked. The girl nodded. "Okay. Sit tight." She sat back, shifted her hand and leg position slightly, and Savannah gasped when Husker pivoted to face the other direction. "That's called a _half turn on the haunches._ I know you have no idea what that means."

"It means he turned around," Savannah said.

"Good enough for me," Penny said.

They walked around a few more minutes, and then the wind picked up slightly. Penny shivered. "I think we're done for now," she told Savannah. "It's getting chilly and this big guy wants his hay."

Savannah looked to Wyatt as he came over to them, but he didn't reach to take her from Penny; he simply stood at Husker's head. Penny swung down off the horse and took Savannah with her, setting the girl on the ground a few feet from the animal.

"I'll take him in and feed him," Wyatt said. "Gotta check on one of the cows anyway, and I think your youngest daughter is going to want you soon. Savannah, you come along and make yourself useful."

"Okay, Grampa," Savannah said.

"Well, look at you, Savannah," Penny's mom said as she walked over with Leonard and Ada. "Such a big girl on a big horse."

Savannah grinned.

"So you got someone to let you come out here," Leonard said teasingly, smiling at his daughter.

"Are you mad at me?" Savannah asked, walking up to her dad and tilting her head back to look up at him.

"No, Love," Leonard said. "But when it comes to matters of money, never ask me and then go to your mother. We'll compare notes."

Savannah giggled. "Mommy doesn't take notes."

"That's because Mommy's got it all right here," Penny said, tapping her head.

"Because you wear a helmet."

"Exactly." She nodded. "Now go with Grandpa and he'll show you how to feed Ed, okay?"

"Okay, Mommy," Savannah said.

"Gimme kiss," Penny said, hunkering down. Savannah kissed her and then ran off after Wyatt.

Penny reached for Leonard's hand. Just because. "It's so cute that she was worried you'd be mad at her for riding the horse."

"I might be mad at you for letting her ride the horse," Leonard said teasingly, gently poking her in the side.

She swatted his hand. "Why would you be mad at me?"

"Well, I can't be mad at Savannah," Leonard said. "She's little and adorable and too young to have any bad qualities. She's the part of you, and the part of me, that no one can dislike."

"Are you saying there's a part of me that people can dislike?" Penny asked. Her face fell slightly. She'd been kidding, but now Amy Farrah Fowler was back at the forefront of her mind, her blank eyes, her flat tone, her defensive posture. Not the Amy that any of them knew, but the only Amy that Penny held in recent memory.

"Hey now," Leonard said, adjusting the hat on Ada's head. "Come on. We have another full day here before we fly home. Don't let this weigh you down any more. Penny?"

She was staring off into the distance, an odd look on her face. The pressure she was putting on his hand was greater than it had been when she'd initially taken it into her own. After a moment, she turned to face Leonard. "Leonard, I'm an evil genius."

**My other fics will hopefully be updated fairly soon. At least by the end of the month. Thanks for reading! I thank y'all for your patience.**


	36. Trickery and Deceit

**Another update because I promised Brit. And because it's still nearly ninety minutes from the super late hour at which I have been going to bed.**

"Are we ready to do this?" Penny asked in a low voice as she joined Leonard near the fridge.

He turned to face her. "This is low, Penny."

She looked down. "Maybe a little." She looked back up at him, her eyes bright with hope. "But if it doesn't work, she won't know what we did. Actually, if it does work, she won't know. It's completely foolproof in terms of getting her _more_ upset at me than she already is."

"But it's not foolproof in terms of actually serving your purpose," Leonard reminded her.

"Negative results are still results," she told him.

"If I had a dime for every time I heard that, let me tell you," Leonard said. "We would be rich."

Penny smiled. "So, are you ready?"

Leonard nodded. "Let's give it a try."

"Does this count as me running an experiment?" Penny asked.

"Well, we would need to define the…"

"I'm taking that as a yes." She kissed his cheek. "If this works, we'll do it in the laundry room tonight."

"Such high stakes," Leonard said. "Why the laundry room?"

"Because I have to do laundry and I want you to help me."

He gave a little laugh. "Okay. Deal."

Penny smiled at him, and then turned toward the hallway. "Savannah! Where are you, silly girl?"

She grinned at Leonard as they heard the sound of her feet rapidly hitting the floor, and then saw their daughter run out into the living area. "Come here, baby girl," Penny said, holding out her arms, and when Savannah jumped into them, Penny lifted her up.

The girl instantly noticed the new photograph on the fridge. "Aunt Amy and Mommy!" she said.

"Hmmm?" Penny said, pretending not to know what she was talking about. "Oh, this. Yes, I found it. Doesn't Aunt Amy look really pretty?"

"Yes," Savannah said. "So do you."

"Why, thank you," Penny said.

"Mommy, I miss Aunt Amy."

"Do you?" Penny said. "I miss her too."

"Hey," Leonard said, "I hate to interrupt this cuddle you guys have going on, but I need to head into work."

Penny almost forgot what they were doing and reminded him that it was Saturday. "Okay. Savannah, say bye bye to Daddy."

As the little girl hugged her father, he looked over at Penny. "_What if this ends up hurting her?"_ He mouthed.

"_What?"_

"_I mean, what if it doesn't work out the way we want, and Savannah gets upset?"_

"_She won't."_

"_How do you know?"_

Penny just knew. _Because I know Amy. And you said yourself, no one can get upset with Savannah. She's the good parts of both of us. The parts that no one can dislike._

But what she mouthed back to Leonard was _trust me._

So he left, but not before kissing her and whispering _trickery and deceit. I suppose Sheldon would approve_, smiling at both of them, and reminding Penny that he'd be home early today. He headed downstairs. He'd only be going to the third floor, in case Savannah didn't do what they thought she would.

And as he was supposed to, he left the apartment door open. Just a little bit.

* * *

Penny was pretending to cook, but her peripheral vision was on the door. Savannah was standing near her, staring up at the picture of Penny and Amy. Then, like Penny and Leonard had hoped, she glanced at the door. She looked to her mother for one moment, and, satisfied that Penny actually wasn't watching her, she walked over, turned her body to the side to fit through the gap, and exited the apartment.

Penny sucked in a breath and then let it out shakily. Their plan was simple, just a few steps, just one requirement: that Leonard was right about what he'd said to her in Nebraska. That Savannah was the part of them that no one could resent.

* * *

Sheldon and Amy were watching Doctor Who. Amy had picked the T.V. show the previous night. Sheldon wasn't a fan of alternating who made the decisions; he had spent much of his life having the control over such things, but she insisted. And so little made Amy happy these days.

There was a soft, quiet knock at the door. Or perhaps not too quiet, Sheldon reasoned, for Amy heard it too, and she had no Vulcan senses. "Who is it?" Sheldon asked.

There wasn't an answer.

"I've got it," Amy said, getting up. She looked through the peep hole, but didn't see anyone. "Odd. Probably some practical joker."

"It's New Year's Eve's Eve," Sheldon said. "No one practical jokes today."

"Last year on December 30th you said 'bazinga' three times."

"Those were classic pranks. Not practical jokes."

Amy rolled her eyes, slid the chain over, and opened the door.

A five year old version of Penny stared up at her, a smile on her face big enough to match her large eyes. And to match the enthusiasm in her voice when she held her arms up and exclaimed, "Aunt Amy!"

Amy unexpectedly felt tears come to her eyes. She dropped to her knees and pulled Savannah into her arms.

* * *

**Sorry this was short, but the next one will likely be pretty long.**

**Also, I don't condone using children to solve your problems; this is a very specific instance where Penny and Leonard thought they had a good chance at fixing things. And it goes back, at the very least, to Penny telling Sheldon that he and Amy are a part of her daughters lives.**

**And this isn't a magic fix. There's still some stuff to come.**


End file.
